The Michigan State University Museum most commonly referred to as the ''MSU Museum'' is Michigan State University's oldest museum formed in 1857. It is the state of Michigan's first Smithsonian Affiliate. It was formed to support the work of the university and is also known for hosting the Great Lakes Quilt Center.

History

Past curators include J. Alan Holman.

Collections

Cultural and Historical Collections

The MSU museum Cultural and Historical Collections include

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

Folklife Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fr ...

and Cultural Heritage, and history.

Natural Science Collections

The MSU museum Natural Science Collections include Mammalogy,

Ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

, Herpetology, Ichthyology, and

Vertebrate Paleontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct animals with vertebrae or a notochord. It also tries to connect, by us ...

Exhibitions

The museum hosts exhibitions to highlight the collections and complementary programs and works some rotating some permanent spread over the three floors of the museum.

Exhibition Spaces

* Habitat Hall – Various dioramas of North and Central America's environments and animals as well as dinosaurs and Jurassic dinosaur skeletons. * Heritage Hall – Highlights the Great Lakes region's economic history. * Hall of Animal Diversity – Highlights different animals and their adaptions to their habitats. * Collections Connections – allows visitors to see some of the cultural artifacts and natural history specimens and show how these are stored to study and preserve for the future. * Hall of Evolution – A timeline of fossils from the Cambrian Period to the

Pleistocene Epoch The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

. * Second Floor Landing – Exploring biodiversity of things big and small. It includes a skeletons of an African Bush Elephant as well as an

Asian Elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...

and a skull of a

Columbian mammoth The Columbian mammoth (''Mammuthus columbi'') is an extinct species of mammoth that inhabited the Americas as far north as the Northern United States and as far south as Costa Rica during the Pleistocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line ...

Recent Exhibitions

* 1.5° Celsius – Explore the impact of climate on our planet. * We All Live Downwind – * Gameplay – Experience games developed at MSU's Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL Lab). * Science on a Sphere – A projection sphere of visualizations of Earth and other locations highlighting a variety of data visualizations an exhibit supported by the Michigan State University Federal Credit Union

Past Exhibitions

* Kindred – featured Odawa arts and crafts including ceramics, basketry, and beadwork from the Waganakising Odawa aka Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. * Michigan Barns: Timber-framed, Plank and Polebarn – featured in July 1, 2003 – July 31, 2003

External links

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References

{{Michigan-museum-stub University museums Museums in East Lansing, Michigan