The Museum of Where We Are

Est. 2020

Faculty: Joseph Larnerd, PhD, Assistant Professor of Design History, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, Drexel University

Supported by Drexel Founding Collection and Joseph Larnerd.

The Challenge / Background

Outcomes

For examples of student work and gallery views of the exhibitions, please visit: themuseumofwhereweare.com

The Museum of Where We Are (MoWWA) taught Dr. Larnerd that to make design history meaningful for his students, he needed to embolden them to create it in their own image. He founded this virtual museum at the outset of the pandemic for students in his “History of Modern Design” class, most of whom are training in design practice and not art or design history, to ensure that his object-based pedagogy continued during remote learning. The project continues to the present (2022), such has been its success in empowering students to see the impact of design and its histories in their own lives and, importantly, model that critical thinking for the wider publics the MoWWA engages, through digital and physical exhibitions.

Below, Dr. Larnerd provides the steps for the quarterlong project as outlined in his syllabus. Brief annotations reflecting on his experience developing and teaching the project follow each step.