Past Academic Programs & Partnerships
The Center for Art and Knowledge
From 2011 through 2021, the Center was the museum’s nexus for academic work, scholarly exchange, and innovative interdisciplinary collaborations. Established as the Center for the Study of Modern Art in 2011, and renamed the University of Maryland Center for Art and Knowledge at The Phillips Collection in 2016, the Center partnered with universities to host lectures, academic courses, a book prize, and a postdoctoral fellowship.
Learn more about the Center’s initiatives
Previous Academic Partnerships
University of Virginia
From 2023-24, The Phillips Collection partnered with the University Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, Virginia, for two programs: An annual Predoctoral Fellowship in Modern and Contemporary Art History that will support graduate-level, interdisciplinary research in American, European, or non-Western art and art history from approximately the 1750s to the present. Proposals will focus on a commitment to social justice and an engagement with postcolonial and diasporic studies. The fellows in art history and archeology will perform independent scholarly work that broadens and diversifies their conducted research. A Summer Undergraduate Internship that will run for an eight week-period and will be open to art history students from UVA who are interested in the museum cross-departmental experience, gaining firsthand exposure to arts and nonprofit administration.
University of Maryland
From 2015-2021, The Phillips Collection and the University of Maryland joined forces, creating a dynamic partnership between America’s first museum of modern art and one of the country’s leading academic institutions for research and innovation. With this partnership, the Phillips and UMD made a fundamental commitment to promote the best of both institutions, to offer UMD an arts home in the nation’s capital, and to collaboratively invest in the continuous growth of UMD’s excellent STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) programming. UMD students and staff brought energy and scholarship to Northwest Washington, and students on campus benefited tremendously from Phillips resources in myriad ways such as joint teaching, research, and cultural activities; mobility of faculty, scholars, and students between institutions; and the creation and sharing of educational materials and resources across disciplines.