The Rubin Welcomes 27 Higher Education Faculty for an Inaugural Summer Institute Intensive

This summer the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art hosted Virtual Gateway to Himalayan Art and Cultures, an inaugural Institute for Higher Education program. The six-day intensive introduced a group of 27 higher education faculty, including PhD candidates and museum curators from Canada, the United Kingdom, Greece, and the United States, to Himalayan art and cultural traditions that connect with East, South, and Inner Asian cultures and humanities fields of study. 

Due to a lack of introductory teaching resources, Himalayan art has been largely excluded from undergraduate survey courses on Asian art and cultures. To remedy this, this institute aimed to provide faculty with access to scholarship and tools needed to engage students in the vibrant ritual, cultural, and art-making practices and traditions of Tibetan and Himalayan regions. The series of workshop-style sessions built on the resources of the Museum’s Project Himalayan Art initiative, which includes a digital platform, publication, and traveling exhibition. Launched in 2023, Project Himalayan Art supports the inclusion of Tibetan and Himalayan cultures into undergraduate teaching on Asia. 

During the institute, a group of Rubin staff and 12 invited scholars presented on specific themes using cross-disciplinary approaches and employing the Project Himalayan Art digital platform and assigned materials. “Participants were especially engaged by the thematic organization of the sessions, especially of the more universal themes, such as those related to environment, health, and well-being, as they could be incorporated into diverse disciplines and classes and address current interests of the students in higher education,” said Elena Pakhoutova, the Rubin’s senior curator, Himalayan art and the institute’s director.

The workshop sessions took place virtually to maximize the advantages of the Project Himalayan Art digital platform and to offer more inclusive participation. Throughout the series, participants expressed an appreciation for the breadth of the content and for gaining exposure to new learning resources that they could bring back to their classrooms. One participant said, “I truly appreciate exploring different ways to incorporate Himalayan art in my teaching activities with specialists and colleagues across disciplines. This gave me a lot of materials to think about and to bring into my teaching in the fall.”

As an extension of the workshop series, participants will develop their own teaching syllabi incorporating Project Himalayan Art and learning materials from the institute. They will share these with the Rubin to be included in the Museum’s Project Himalayan Art collection of teaching resources for educators. The Museum aims to continue expanding this diverse and cross-disciplinary suite of educational materials and empower even more faculty to incorporate the study of Himalayan art and cultures into their syllabi.