Thinking Exhibitions: University Galleries as Knowledge Laboratories in Times of Crisis.

At a moment marked by global instability—political upheaval, ecological crises, and challenges to ‎the authority of institutions—this panel reconsiders the university museum and gallery as ‎distinctive sites of knowledge production, asking how exhibitions function as epistemic practices ‎within, and beyond, the academy. Situated at the intersection of research, creativity, pedagogy, ‎and public engagement, university art institutions are uniquely positioned to operate as ‎experimental laboratories in which knowledge is not only displayed but actively produced, tested, ‎and contested.‎

We invite papers that examine how university galleries respond to, and intervene in, the shifting ‎conditions of knowledge-making. How do exhibitions within academic settings mobilize both ‎research and practice? In what ways do they differ from public or private museums in their capacity ‎to curate uncertainty or promote critical inquiry? And how might they reconfigure relationships ‎between scholarship, teaching, and methods of curating and artmaking? We seek contributions ‎from art historians, curators, and cultural practitioners that explore university exhibitions as sites of ‎research-based practice, pedagogical innovation, and critical experimentation. Topics may include, ‎but are not limited to, the historical formation of university collections, exhibition-making as a ‎mode of inquiry, technological and methodological innovation, and the role of university galleries in ‎addressing contemporary social and political crises. By foregrounding the exhibition as a thinking ‎process, this panel aims to map the evolving role of university art institutions in shaping new and ‎productive junctions between knowledge and creation.‎

To propose a paper, please send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short bio (max. 70 ‎words) directly to the session chairs, Tamar Mayer (mayertamargmail.com) and Ronit Milano ‎(ronitmilanogmail.com), by September 11, 2026. Notification of acceptance will be sent by ‎September 20, 2026.‎