A Closer Look From South Carolina

This spring, the University of South Carolina (USC) established a partnership with the Smithsonian and five students from the Honors College had the opportunity to spend three weeks exploring different institutions within the Smithsonian. This “Beyond the Classroom” experience expects that students learn about public spaces and the way in which people interact with exhibits and collections preserved within museums.

From left to right, students Lex Kratzer, Victoria VanZomoren, Olivia Williamson, Kevin O’Brien, Sarah Christenbury, and professor Dr. Dave Snyder

This externship experience made it possible for the Honors College students to visit 14 different Smithsonian museums and facilities and for them to receive “behind the scenes” tours of exciting places such as the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI), and the National Museum of the American Indian Cultural Resources Center (NMAI CRC). As part of the course, the students participated in daily seminars with a USC professor and had five focused discussions with museum professionals to further examine what they understood from the public spaces around them. The students also had additional experiences that branched outside the Smithsonian, such as tours of the Library of Congress, the Woodrow Wilson institute, the offices of Senator Tim Scott, and the Capitol.

You can read more about the USC “Beyond the Classroom” course in Washington D.C. here.