The Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology has announced the appointment of Dr. Lauren Kroiz as the Museum’s next Faculty Director for a five-year term, effective January 1, 2020.
Dr. Kroiz is Associate Professor in the History of Art Department where her research and teaching focus on art and modernism in the United States during the twentieth century. She plans to engage both graduate and undergraduate students from a broad range of disciplines in classroom and hands-on work at the Museum. And her scholarly and curatorial work evince a deep understanding of the impact of colonialism on practices of collecting, archiving, and displaying; this knowledge and critical acumen will serve her well in the Museum’s work on repatriation and relations with Native American governments and communities.
The Hearst Museum aims to be a place where cultures connect in uncommon ways, through exciting exhibits of the rich holdings of the collection, through hosting object-based teaching and research involving scholars from our campus community and beyond, and through public education and outreach. Founded in 1901, at present the Museum cares for a collection of an estimated 3.8 million objects that span all six inhabited continents and two million years of human history. Its recently renovated 3,200-square-foot public gallery space hosts rotating exhibitions and draws visitors from campus and the Bay Area, including sixth-graders who attend the new field trip program, “We Are All Anthropologists.” Inspired by its founder, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, the museum promotes the tools of humanists and social scientists, encouraging people to reflect on alternative perspectives, connect with others, and take action for positive change.