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A New Definition of “Museum” Sparks International Debate

The International Council of Museums’s proposed definition—which incorporates mention of “human dignity and social justice”—has stirred debate among the consortium’s 40,000 professionals. (Hyperallergic)

Don’t Stress the New Semester

If you’re scrambling to create a syllabus, find useful readings, and develop effective assignments, remember you don’t have to recreate the wheel. Here’s a great round up of resources from AHTR. (Art History Teaching Resources)

The Met Is Investigating Objects in Its Collection With Ties to Disgraced Dealer Subhash Kapoor. Will Other Museums Follow Suit?

Kapoor was arrested in 2011 for allegedly operating one of the largest antiquities smuggling operations in the world. (artnet News)

Sexism in the Academy

While there were significant gains during much of the 20th century, feminist progress in the academy has slowed—and may have already come to a halt. (n+1)

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Statues from the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, are pictured in 2018 at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris. Photo: Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images

Across Europe, Museums Rethink What To Do With Their African Art Collections

According to commonly cited figures from a 2007 UNESCO forum, 90% to 95% of sub-Saharan cultural artifacts are housed outside Africa. (NPR)

San Francisco School Board Reverses Course, Decides to Save Controversial Mural

Facing international outcry, the San Francisco school board reversed course last week, voting to obscure murals by Victor Arnautoff rather than paint over them. (San Francisco Chronicle)

National Endowment for the Humanities Announces New Grants

The NEH announced $29 million in awards for 215 humanities projects across the country.(New York Times)

Princeton Art Museum Partners with Historically Black Colleges in Art Leadership Program

A new partnership aims to open up career paths for students underrepresented in the field of cultural heritage. (Princeton News)

Decolonizing Your Syllabus? You Might Have Missed Some Steps

“Inviting voices into spaces not built for them or that undermine their messages, lived experiences, and expertise can often work against the well-intentioned goals of inclusion.”(Twitter thread)

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Shannon Finnegan’s Anti-Stairs Club Lounge in front of public monument Vessel in New York. Photo: Maria Baranova, courtesy of Shannon Finnegan via Hyperallergic

Fighting the Art World’s Ableism

A call for arts institutions to move beyond ADA compliance and develop greater awareness around accessibility. (Hyperallergic)

After Damaging Collisions (and Too Many Near Misses), Venice Decides to Ban Giant Cruise Ships Once and For All

The Italian government has decided to begin diverting the giant ships away from Venice’s central waterway. (artnet News)

Ranking New York’s Most Toxic Museum Boards

Following the resignation of Warren Kanders from the Whitney Museum board, a look at the makeup of other prominent New York institutions. (New York Magazine)

Sourdough Enthusiasts Are Harvesting 4,500-Year-Old Yeast From Museums’ Egyptian Pottery to Make Bread Fit for the Pharaohs

What happens when a scientist, an Egyptologist, and a video-game designer walk into a museum? (artnet News)

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Toni Morrison. Photo courtesy Alfred A. Knopf.

No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear: Toni Morrison on the Artist’s Task in Troubled Times

Author and professor Toni Morrison passed away this week at the age of 88. Read her 2015 essay on the role of the artist, “No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear.” (The Nation)

In a Powerful Statement, the Baltimore Museum of Art Is Dedicating All of Its 2020 Programming to Female Artists

The museum is planning thirteen solo shows for artists including Joan Mitchell, Candice Breitz, and Katharina Grosse. (artnet News)

Congress Is Investigating the Rapid Closure of Art Institutes Across United States

The collapse of the university franchise that owned more than 40 college campuses across the country has left nearly 26,000 students with ample debt and no degrees.(Hyperallergic)

Becoming Full Professor While Black

“My promotion happened—like those of all the black women before me—not because times have changed, but because I beat the odds.” (Chronicle of Higher Ed)

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Protesters in May demanding that Warren B. Kanders be removed from the board of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo: Jeenah Moon/NYT

Warren Kanders Quits Whitney Board after Tear Gas Protests

The vice chairman stepped down after months of protests, which led eight artists to withdraw their work from the Whitney Biennial. (New York Times)

Three Questions That Can Improve Your Teaching

Begin with these three simple questions. (Chronicle of Higher Ed)

Feminist Art Pioneer Judy Chicago Will Get First-Ever Retrospective in 2020

The de Young Museum exhibition will feature Chicago’s early experiments with color theory, her feminist reading of Minimalist aesthetics, and her newer, textile-based works exploring ecological destruction and extinction. (Art News)

Tuition-Free College Could Cost Less Than You Think

At least some—and perhaps all—of the cost of universal tuition-free public higher education could be defrayed by redeploying money that the government is already spending. (New York Times)

The Education Deserts of Rural America

The college-completion gap between rural and urban residents is widening. (The Atlantic)

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A worker near an open part of Notre Dame’s roof. Some sections of the cathedral have since been exposed to rainfall and high temperatures that France has experienced. Photo: Patrick Zachmann—Magnum Photos for TIME

An Exclusive Look inside the Recovery Efforts to Save Notre Dame

Three months after the blaze, the cathedral’s chief architect Philippe Villeneuve leads us through the damage. (TIME)

It’s Not Just Sarah Milov. Female Academics Aren’t Credited in Media ‘All the Time.’

Original ideas from an academic, both journalists and academics agree, should have a name attached. (The Lily)

Colleges Fear Losing International Students over Visa Delays

Dozens of institutions have urged the government to expedite the approval process.(Education Dive)

I’m Emptying My Bank Account to Go to Columbia

“My hope has never been this fat, this wild. But my anxiety has never been this intense. I try to breathe. I smile when it gets unbearable.” (The Atlantic)

Ahdaf Soueif on Resigning from the British Museum’s Board of Trustees

“Will the museum use [their collection] to influence the future of the planet and its peoples? Or will it continue to project the power of colonial gain and corporate indemnity?” (LRB)

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Frank Bowling, Elder Sun Benjamin (2018), recently purchased by SFMOMA. Courtesy of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Photo: Katherine Du Tiel, via artnet News

SFMOMA Sold a Rothko for $50 Million to Diversify Its Collection. Here’s What They Bought With the Proceeds

Work by Alma Thomas, Lygia Clark, and Mickalene Thomas are among the new additions to the museum’s collection. (artnet News)

Blindsided by a ‘Devastating’ Veto, Alaska’s University System Pleads for a Lifeline

The University of Alaska system—which serves more than 26,000 students—is bracing for a 41% funding cut after Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a $130 million line item in the state’s budget. (New York Times)

Rethinking the “Bigger Is Better” Museum Model

Is it possible to rethink the “grow or die” museum mentality of the 1990s and 2000s? (Hyperallergic)

State of Massachusetts Investigates Reported Racism at the MFA Boston

The Civil Rights division of the Massachusetts attorney general’s office is now investigating. (The Art Newspaper)

Opinion: San Francisco Will Spend $600,000 to Erase History

Last week, the San Francisco school board decided the thirteen murals that make up “The Life of Washington” will be destroyed. (New York Times)

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Capitol Building, Arts Advocacy Day 2019. Photo: Joelle Te Paske

US House Passes Funding Bills with Increased Spending for the NEA and NEH

Great news for arts advocacy! On June 25th, the US House rejected the Trump administration’s budget request to eliminate both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities by approving $167.5 million in funding for fiscal year 2020. This is an increase for both agencies of $12.5 million over the 2019 funding level of $155 million. The funding increase matches the 2019 Arts Advocacy Day ask, which CAA participated in. The Senate vote will follow after the July 4th recess. (The Hill)

One Museum’s Complicated Attempt to Repatriate a “Benin Bronze”

The RISD Museum has held a Benin bronze head in its collection for 80 years. “No one would have given it up unless under duress,” the curators say. But tracing its provenance and repatriating is no simple matter. (Hyperallergic)

Art Collector Agnes Gund Signs Letter in Support of Wealth Tax

Agnes Gund is one of 19 multimillionaires and billionaires calling for a wealth tax on the “fortunes of the richest one-tenth of the richest 1 percent of Americans—on us.” (ARTnews)

British Doctors May Soon Prescribe Art, Music, Dance, Singing Lessons

“Social prescribing” will enable doctors in the UK to prescribe therapeutic art-based treatments. (Smithsonian)

Ten Proposals for a More Ethical Art History: An Undergraduate Perspective

“Higher education institutions seem to spend a lot of time talking about students, talking to students, asking things of students, but not necessarily talking with or listening to students.” (Material Collective)

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Installation view of 60 Years at Tate Britain. Photo: Naomi Polonsky for Hyperallergic

POWarts Releases the Results of Its Art-World Salary Survey

the nonprofit POWarts recently released the results of its salary survey comparing compensation levels in the visual arts field at for-profit and nonprofit organizations. (POWarts)

Association of Art Museum Directors Calls for End of Unpaid Internships

While the AAMD resolution may be a small measure in the full context of museum operations, it could lead to helpful consequences for workers getting their start. (ARTnews)

Tate Britain Hangs a Diverse Display of Women Artists Out of Its Permanent Collection

The collection of sixty women artists from the museum’s permanent collection tackles the tricky terrain of museum representation. (Hyperallergic)

Survey: The Impact of Negative Supervisory Behaviors on the Graduate Student Experience

Are you a former graduate student who had negative encounters with supervisors during your studies? Share your experience in this anonymous survey about advisor-graduate student relationships. (via Twitter)

Artists Reflect on How Stonewall Changed Art

On Stonewall’s 50th anniversary, artists, writers, and activists share how that moment affected queer life in New York City, and their own creative practices. (Artsy)