Dr. Jen Thum

Biography

Jen Thum is an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and serves as the Associate Director of Academic Engagement Campus Partnerships and Research Curator at the Harvard Art Museums. Her role encompasses the creation of interdisciplinary learning experiences using art artifacts and she conducts object-based teaching workshops for faculty. She also directs the Graduate Student Teacher Program and teaches in the medical humanities program for radiology residents at Brigham Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Thum specializes in ancient Egyptian art and archaeology, having earned her Ph.D. in archaeology of the Ancient World from Brown University, and her M.Phil. in Egyptology from the University of Oxford. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from Barnard College and has authored numerous publications, including serving as the lead editor of 'Teaching Ancient Egypt Museums: Pedagogies Practice' (Routledge, 2024). Before joining Harvard in 2018, she worked as a museum educator at the RISD Museum and was a head teaching consultant at the Humanities Social Sciences Sheridan Center at Brown University. Thum is also the vice president for outreach education at the Archaeological Institute of America and actively participates in public education projects like Skype a Scientist, demonstrating her commitment to enhancing the learning potential offered by art artifacts to students and the public.

Research Interests