THE BENJAMIN A. QUARLES
SUMMER OUTREACH INSTITUTE
Welcome Interested High School Scholars,
Overview: The Benjamin A. Quarles Humanities and Social Science Institute will select eight underrepresented minority students from Baltimore City public high schools for a summer outreach experience. The experience is designed to expose students to the interdisciplinary nature of the humanities at Morgan through a summer Institute that aims at promoting diversity in museums and other cultural institutions. This summer outreach will focus on art exposure and appreciation through art handling, applied design, spatial organization, database entry, research and description and analysis, and the students will become familiar with cataloging and registration methods, documentation, processing and discussing works of art.
Funded Fellowship Activities and Requirements: Students selected to participate in the summer institute will gain knowledge of and exposure to the fine arts by participating in a project in which they will design a small exhibition using art objects from Morgan State’s James E. Lewis Museum of Art (JELMA) to fill the display cases in the Earl S. Richardson Library. In the process of designing this exhibition, students will learn how to handle objects, digitize images of art objects for JELMA’s database, as well as research and analyze works of art, all of which will enhance their interpretive and critical thinking skills. In addition to studying the objects in JELMA’s collection, once a week students will take a field trip to area collections (including the National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian African Art Museum, and the Walters Art Museum) where by observing objects in a large museum context they will learn about different artistic styles. Finally, during the final week of the institute, students will engage in a model symposium at JELMA where they will discuss the objects they studied over the summer and their overall experience at the institute.
Eligibility: Students will be specifically recruited from Baltimore-area public high schools, especially Baltimore City College, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, and Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School.
Selection Criteria: Though detailed selection criteria will be determined in collaboration with the high schools, the Program will require that the students have:
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Must be a junior or senior, who is committed to attending college;
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Interested in Art, English, History, Humanities, and African American culture;
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Achieved an overall grade point average of 3.0 or above;
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Completed or enrolled in art, history, or English courses;
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Recommended by high advisor/counselor, teacher, and principal;
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Possess strong written and oral communication skills;
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Possess a familiarity with computer technology.
Application Deadline: April 30.
Notification: May 20.