The Kelsey Museum of Archeology is located on the central campus of the University of Michigan and is nestled between the Trotter Multicultural Center and the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and Art. The museum is off of South State Street and across from Angel, Mason, and Haven Hall, the University of Michigan Museum of Art, the Law Quadrangle, the Student Union, and The Student Diag—one of the most populated places on campus where students commute to and from classes. At the crossing of State Street and North University Ave are popular restaurants: Chipotle, Panera Bread, Noodles and Company, Piada, etc. Despite the Kelsey Museum of Archeology’s prime location, it seems that few students are aware of its presence on campus.
After going from business to business between South State Street and the University Ave, conducting interviews, I found that students and residents have heard of the name “Kelsey Museum of Archeology” but few are aware that its existence is a block away. An example of this would be when I went to the information desk at the Student Union, which is two buildings down from the museum. Out of the two assistants working the front desk, one had been to the museum because her boyfriend worked in the archives but the other had never heard of the museum. This is important to note because this is the main information desk for the University of Michigan, and one of the assistants had never heard of it. Furthermore, I sent out over fifty surveys to various clubs and organizations, receiving only five responses, and conducted interviews in my classes among students of various fields of study.
My role as a docent at the Kelsey Museum gives me better insight into to the question that I am posing. For I know the museum regularly schedules tours for university and K-12 students as well as public tours. Both the university and K-12 tours present topics and artifacts that are related to the topics studied in the classroom. For example, a 200- level Latin class has their students read the Latin inscriptions on ancient headstones or the nursing school has their students look at artifacts related to ancient birthing practices. A middle school class will rotate through the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Roman galleries for a summary on each geographical location, as their school’s curriculum is presenting an overview of the ancient world. Other than scheduled tours with students, the museum offers public tours called “Saturday Samplers” where rotating topics are discussed such as “Women in the Ancient World” or “Graffiti as Devotion along the Nile.” Similar drop-in tours are also given on Sunday. Families and a retired population are regular attendees to the weekend tours. Finally, specialists in the field use the museum’s collection for research.
The museum's largest audience are university students in the field of ancient studies and most in-depth audience are the specialists who conduct research. If this this is the case, the displays are primarily in conversion with academics. However, the displays are able to reach some students outside of a classroom setting, families, and an older population.
I will propose three examples for the museum's redesign of the Middle Eastern Gallery as a way to attempt to include a larger audience into the museum and expand the history of the ancient world to others. My first proposal will be a more traditional redesign, as the later will move away from traditional museum displays.
I found that if students had heard of the museum they had not been unless a class took them, and considering the classes related to ancient Middle Eastern Studies are limited my question is: Who is visiting the museum?
If the museum is located in a prime location, where daily students walk past it, why aren’t more students visiting the museum?