UCLA faculty from a variety of disciplines regularly use the Fowler Museum as an extension of their classrooms. A visit to the Fowler can offer cultural context, exemplify ideas and concepts addressed in class, introduce visual literacy skills, and provide focus for student projects. There are many ways to integrate works of art into undergraduate and graduate courses. 

Faculty members may sign up for a guided tour by Fowler Student Educators, who are UCLA undergraduate and graduate students trained to lead introductory visits to current exhibitions and engage visitors in sustained looking and student-centered conversations. Faculty and staff interested in scheduling a guided tour are expected to participate in its development by furnishing additional information, such as the syllabus and learning objectives for the visit. Fowler educators are not able to accommodate all guided tour requests; you may be asked to schedule a self-guided tour or lead the visit yourself if your learning objectives or class topics do not align with the Fowler educators’ expertise. Faculty and staff may also schedule a visit and lead their own visit to Fowler exhibitions. 

To schedule a class visit, please complete our online request form below. Requests are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Please allow at least three weeks’ notice for guided tour requests, and at least one week’s notice for self-guided tour requests.

Email fowlereducation@arts.ucla.edu with requests for guided visits.

Student Educator 

The Fowler Student Educator program trains UCLA undergraduates in leading gallery conversations and art-making activities with K–12 students. In-person work is required, and occasional family programs take place on weekends.

Student Educators lead K–12 School Visits: in-gallery conversations focused on art and other cultural materials that represent various perspectives on leadership, liberation, wellness, and the environment. Facilitated dialogues around these themes highlight the knowledge developed and valued by different cultures and communities. Conversations in our Intersections: World Art, Local Lives gallery are followed by hands-on activities and guided writing exercises, and serve Common Core Standards. Our goal is to support and augment classroom instruction in social studies/history, visual arts, ethnic studies, and social-emotional learning.

Student Educators may also assist with the organization and implementation of teacher institutes—the museum’s professional development series for teachers.

Student Educators are invited to professional development sessions in the form of conversations with Fowler staff about museum education, curatorial practice, conservation, collections management, publications, and development.

We invite candidates from a wide range of academic disciplines in order to foster cross-disciplinary perspectives and culturally responsive dialogues with K–12 students, teachers, and museum visitors. Applicants will be evaluated on their commitment to making global arts and cultures inspiring and accessible.

To apply, please visit our Opportunities page.

The Fowler Student Council (FSC) consists of UCLA undergraduates and graduates from a range of academic disciplines and campus organizations who serve as advocates for diverse stakeholders on UCLA campus and in the city of Los Angeles. The FSC convenes once a month throughout the academic year to envision future museum programs and exhibitions, offer critical assessments of past ones, and advance the Fowler’s accountability to multiple campus communities.

FSC members have opportunities to: co-design and host the series UCLA Conversations; organize special events for Fowler Student Members; support partnerships at UCLA and in greater Los Angeles; and advise the Fowler staff on aspects of student life at UCLA.

FSC work is informed by recent scholarship on sharing authority with community constituents in order to ensure participation, accessibility, and advocacy for individuals whose histories and legacies are represented at the museum.  

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FSC Members, 2022–2023

Madison Aubey, PhD program, Anthropology
Ivana Berrios, PhD program, Comparative Literature
Rio Deniger ‘23, Major: Art History; Minors: Gender Studies; Film, TV, and Digital Media
Ricardo Dollero ‘23, Major: Anthropology; Minors: Film, TV, and Digital Media; Ethnomusicology
Rasheed Shabazz, PhD program, Urban Planning
Angela Estrada ’23, Major: Anthropology; Minor: Community Engagement and Social Change
Alba Menéndez Perez, PhD candidate, Archaeology
Stephanie Rice ’23, Major: Ancient Near East and Egyptology; Minor: Geography/Environmental Studies
Justine Sargent ‘23, Major: English; Minor: Film, Television, and Digital Media
Nicole Smith, PhD program, Anthropology

Image below, left to right: Rio, Rasheed, Maddy, Alba, Justine, Angela, Nicole

Academic Year 2021-2022

Hannah Whelan—a second-year graduate student in the Library & Information Science program at UCLA—specializes in Archival Studies. She is interested in the processes of collective remembering and forgetting, and the use of community archives to resist narratives generated by government-controlled record-keeping and surveillance. Hannah’s “Art of Liberation” project explores how art and other counter-documentation methods can be used in K-12 classrooms to generate discussion and collective action around liberation and its absence.

Doğa Tekin—a third-year graduate student in Anthropology—specializing in Linguistic Anthropology. Her research focuses on how discourses about public parks produce, reinforce, and disrupt people’s relationships with nature and land use; how national and state parks erase Indigenous histories; and how these natural areas become privatized, racialized, and classed. At the Fowler, Doğa has been working with the education team on designing the K-12 program called “Conversations,” with a special focus on how art and other cultural materials express and embody different perspectives on nature and liberation. As a core part of her work, Doğa organizes workshops with K-12 teachers, high school students, and UCLA faculty to support the integration of community voices and expertise into the Fowler’s K-12 programming.

Project-based calls for applicants are posted on our Opportunities page as they become available.

Fowler Out Loud (FOL) is a for-students, by-students evening music series that invites UCLA students from various disciplines to perform at the museum. Students can get involved as performers or as the FOL Coordinator, a P/T paid position in which a student acts as the program curator who coordinates booking, marketing, and production of student performances.

FOL Coordinator: In Summer 2022, we will be accepting applications for the 2022–23 academic year.  Please visit the Work-Study section of our Opportunities page.

Performers: UCLA students, alumni, or UCLA-affiliated ensembles interested in performing during the academic year should fill out the application questionnaire here. Most performances take place in the Fowler’s outdoor courtyard or amphitheater. Past performances have included music, dance, and spoken word. We do our best to accommodate all performance genres.

Below: Traditional Japanese drumming ensemble Kyodo Taiko (est. 1990) performs in the Fowler amphitheater.

The Fowler regularly hires undergraduate and graduate students for positions in the museum, including in Education and Public Programs, Digital Media, Security, and Development. Internships for course credit are also available in specific departments. If you are a UCLA student interested in developing an independent or course project under the mentorship of a Fowler staff member, please contact the appropriate department here.

Additional information and application instructions for student awards and employment opportunities are available here.

We frequently collaborate with partners across campus on creating programs, be they gallery talks, musical performances, or other activities that celebrate the intellectual and creative talents of UCLA students, faculty, and staff. Faculty expertise and graduate student research also shape the interpretation, design, and presentation of educational programs, collections, and exhibitions. Recent examples include the Community Scholar in Residence program, a partnership between the Fowler and UCLA’s Islamic Studies Program. To suggest a collaboration, please email fowlereducation@arts.ucla.edu.

DISRUPT is a UCLA student design organization that aims to establish inclusive spaces and create opportunities for students of all backgrounds to engage in creative collaborations. The Fowler is honored to partner with DISRUPT in offering programs that break down barriers in the art world, and promote innovative ideation through inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility. Contact DISRUPT to join the organization or to suggest a speaker for our public program series, DISRUPT THE FOWLER. Email: disrupt@ucla.edu

To view past DISRUPT programs, click through the video showcase below.