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Class in the Spotlight
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From Savannah to Sistine, Janson shares enthusiasm with students
 Photo by Dennis Burnett James Janson, Ph.D., art history and museum studies professor, shares with students his passion for objects and his desire to make museums accessible to a broad range of visitors. By Monique Bos Published: Friday, October 6, 2006 At the start of his 30th year in the field, James Janson, Ph.D., an art history professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design and creator of the college’s museum studies minor, still loves what he does. “I’ve been fortunate to be in positions where I enjoy going to work,” he said. “I love this job; I love working with students.” Janson’s background includes both teaching and stints in museums, and he said he enjoys both. “One of my students asked which area I like most,” he said. “I’ve been comfortable in both. In museums you’re working with original objects, real objects. At the same time, groups of students can go on off-campus trips to places like Italy and Provence, [France,] and it’s great to be right there in front of the original pieces.” Janson earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Ohio University, a Master of Arts in museology from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in art history from Case Western Reserve University. He spent six years as a curator in the art education department at the Detroit Institute of Art. “It was a great education department,” he said. “In fact, it’s very similar to the art history department here at SCAD, where we have 30-plus art historians. I love working with them.” After Detroit, he worked as director of galleries at Ursuline College and Kent State University, respectively. In 1990, Janson moved to Americus, where he taught at Georgia Southwestern State University for several years. He also “kept a finger in” the museum world by serving as an adjunct staff member at the Albany Museum of Art. “In 1997, I had the opportunity to come here to SCAD,” he said. “It’s a nice balance between the academic side and the pure teaching side.” At SCAD, he developed the museum studies minor, which launched in 1998. He already is working on plans to commemorate the minor’s 10th anniversary in 2008. “We’re talking about a two-day symposium,” he said. “We haven’t determined the theme yet, but I wanted to have that kind of celebration.” He also wants to recognize local museums for their contributions to the program. “We’ve had really good cooperation from museums in this area,” he said. “When we have our celebration, I want to really emphasize the cooperation we’ve had across the board with museums here. A strength of the program is that we don’t always have classes in the classroom; we go out on the road very often. Students talk to professionals and get to see things in museums that the general public doesn’t — archives, storage and collections. That’s a real plus. Also, I often have opportunities to bring professionals into the classroom.” Site visits include such diverse museums as Fort Pulaski, the Davenport House and the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum. “The program isn’t just about art museums,” Janson explained. “We like to teach about all types of museums — historic sites, historic houses, science museums. Everyone is surprised that a zoo or a botanical garden or an aquarium can be a museum, but they’re all based on objects.” His background in museum education also translates into a passion for making museums appeal to a broad range of visitors. “We want to make sure that museums service everybody,” he said. “Art museums, especially in this country, were put in buildings that almost looked like Renaissance palazzos, Renaissance façades, and that put a lot of people off. Our job these days is to break that barrier down and try to make museums as accessible as possible for as many people as possible.” Janson’s other specializations are the Italian and Northern Renaissance periods, and he has shared his enthusiasm with students on off-campus trips for several years. “I’ve had the good fortune to go six times,” he said. “There’s no substitute for being in front of the real object. It’s very exciting.” The off-campus program with which he has been involved started as a trip to Italy and France, but the focus shifted to Italy after SCAD-Lacoste opened. Students spend a week each in Florence, Rome and Venice. “What you get on the off-campus trip is so great — you get three cities with very different personalities. How exciting it is to walk through all that history!” Janson said. “It also gives me the opportunity to explore and spend time with other professors. I’ve made some really nice friends.” He said the trips give students a sense of the impact of artwork on its environment, but also make the creators more immediate and human. “When you have that object in front of you, that’s the original. In reproductions, you lose the scale, and the color isn’t always there. When you can talk about pieces at the sites where they actually are — such as the Sistine Chapel — you really get a sense of the history,” he said. “You also get a sense of the artist. Michelangelo is almost mythical. You miss the human side — he lived, breathed, ate, slept, drank, had worries and financial concerns.” Janson said he has taken a lot of video and photographs on his trips, so that he can share the experience with students who aren’t able to participate in the off-campus program. “It gives a feel for those cities,” he said. “To be able to see the work on a video at least gives a sense of its character and physicality.” Whether he’s in the classroom, on a site visit to a Savannah museum or in an Italian cathedral, Janson’s love of teaching remains consistent. “I think teaching is my calling. Going into the classroom is like a fix,” he said. “I love class participation. I tell my students there are three major reasons for that: One, it helps your grade. Two, it gives energy to the class; discussions are so much better when you get students asking questions. Three, so often students come up with ideas or points of view that I’ve never considered.” He added, “I understand that the students have to sit there for a long period of time. I feel that I need to be part entertainer and part educator. I use a lot of humor in my classes, and I like to talk about the things students are interested in, such as music and the books they read.” Janson said he particularly enjoys the art history department and the environment at SCAD. “The thing I love about SCAD is that I’m always busy. There’s never a dull moment here,” he said. “We all get along really well in the department, and that’s really nice. People are always willing to help and to step outside of their immediate area. That’s a big deal for me, and it makes a huge difference.”  |
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