June 25 - July 20, 2012
The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts is accepting applications from graduate students, decorative arts professionals, and independent scholars for the 36th MESDA Summer Institute. The 2012 Institute emphasizes the material culture of the early southern Backcountry, including Tennessee, Kentucky and the piedmont and western
regions of Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. Students study the region’s economic, social and cultural history through a multidisciplinary approach that includes current methods of research, interpretation, preservation, and analysis of material culture. The program’s month-long curriculum includes lectures, discussions, workshops, artifact studies, research projects, and a six-day study trip to Tennessee.
The UVA Resident Scholar for the 2012 Summer Institute is Dr. Carroll Van West, Professor of History and Director of the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University. In addition to Dr. West, the faculty is composed of members of the staffs of MES¬DA and Old Salem Museums & Gardens, the University of Virginia, and several guest lecturers. The MESDA Summer Institute is a partnership between the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts and the University of Virginia’s Graduate Program in the History of Art and Architecture. Students receive three hours of
graduate credit through the University of Virginia.
Applications are due April 20, 2012.
For more information - and an application - visit the 2012 Summer Institute
website: http://www.MESDA.org/SI
