In pursuing its mission to “provide [students] with an enhanced and supportive intellectual and social experience that acculturates them to the life of the mind and helps them to become critical, independent thinkers….,” Lloyd International Honors College has found an ideal campus partner in the Weatherspoon Art Museum.
Honors Colloquium sections have been visiting the Weatherspoon as a critical part of their curriculum since 2010. The course serves first-year students in the International Honors Program and aims to ease the transition to the UNCG community while also preparing students for lives dedicated to civic engagement.
The Weatherspoon plays an integral role in that preparation. During our visits, a Weatherspoon docent teaches students the difference between objective and subjective viewing and encourages students to practice their new skills in a current exhibition. Discussions moderated by the docent help students identify overarching themes in the works and can help reveal some of the goals and aims of the artist.
Many students are unaware that UNC Greensboro has an art museum before they arrive on campus, and their visit with their Colloquium section is often the student’s first introduction to the space, the collections, and the dedication to student learning. For ten years, Colloquium students have been routinely ranking the visit to the Weatherspoon as high on their list of impactful activities they do in Colloquium. The Weatherspoon does an exceptional job of making the space welcoming to community members of all ages and making room in discourse about art for novices and experts alike.
Rebecca Muich, PhD
Assistant Dean, Lloyd International; Honors College, UNCG
Image: Weatherspoon docent Marge Cromer leads a conversation in To the Hoop with students enrolled in the Honors Colloquium, October 2020.
