When: February 2018
Where: Cambridge, MA, USA
Institution: Materials Lab, Harvard Art Museums
In early February, Harvard undergraduate tour guides of the Harvard Art Museums enjoyed a two-hour mini session of Pre-Texts at M/Lab.
Reading an excerpt from Simone de Beauvoir’s The Ethics of Ambiguity, the group caught onto the methodology immediately and particularly enjoyed the democratic aspect of “What did we do?”. They enjoyed the opportunity to do a gallery tour of the European religious art gallery.
As guides who introduce museum visitors to Harvard’s art collections, they appreciated dedicating time to one specific gallery space. One student emphasized that this was a useful way to articulate both support and criticism of the text, as some students intentionally chose pieces that ran counter to de Beauvoir’s arguments. As the session wrapped up, one commented this was one of the most engaging and interesting academic activities he has done at Harvard.
