The Museum of Education is located within the College of Education at the University of South Carolina. It serves as a “public square”—a venue for open discussion and the examination of educational issues. This “pedagogical space” offers an opportunity to creatively complicate how research is disseminated and presented. Opened to the public in 1977, the museum’s programs are oriented toward educators, students of various ages, and the general public.  Paramount to all of the museum’s programs, exhibitions, and initiatives are the ideals of social justice, integrity, intellectual spirit, and creativity. When patrons walk through the doors or visit our website, the Museum invites them to engage with important people, events, and ideas, and to consider how this information could make life better for their communities, for their students, and for themselves.

 

Emerging from the Silence

It is with much enthusiasm that I share the 2021-2022 Exhibition & Programming Calendar for the Museum of Education. After an extended pause in active exhibitions due to the 2020 pandemic, we are excited to open a new academic year with a research installation by our 2021 Faculty Guest Curators, Professor Christian Anderson and Professor Amber Fallucca.  “The History of American College Football” covers a range of topics from the first games, football during pandemics, the history of reform, social protests, and college football in pop culture. The programs and events tied to the exhibit will explore an even more wide range of topics including race and college sports, compensation of players, and the future of college football.

In the spring 2022 semester, we will bring a national exhibit to our campus for a semester residency. “Do they see us? A Visual Call to Remember Faculty and Staff Mattering and Pandemic Life in Higher Education” is a photo exhibit chronicling faculty and staff life during the 2020-2021 pandemic. Featuring images submitted from both higher education professionals across the country and faculty/staff on our own campus, this exhibit serves as an explicit call for our institutions to “see” and honor the sacrifices made by our dedicated faculty and staff during the pandemic.

We are still shifting, adjusting, pacing, and slowly emerging as we learn to live and navigate an ongoing pandemic. This means that our programs will now and in the future continue to take a hybrid form offering both virtual and limited in-person events. Ours is a small, intimate museum where you do not have to contend with large crowds. Please wear masks while inside the museum as mandated by our university and city. Also be conscious of distancing if others are in the space. But take advantage of non-crowded spaces like the Museum of Education that will allow you to get out, engage and learn in a safe setting.

 

Toby S. Jenkins, Ph.D.
Museum Director