Exploring the Model of General Art Education in Universities from an Interdisciplinary Perspective: A Case Study of the Course “Understanding Museums”

In response to the limitations of single-disciplinary perspectives and superficial cultural understanding in current university general art education, this paper designs a tripartite teaching model—“Theme-Question-Discipline”— guided by the theory of “interdisciplinary thematic learning”. Taking the self-designed general elective course “Understanding Museums” as a case study, it constructs a novel general art education model centered on serialized museum-based field learning. The paper elaborates on how integrating multidisciplinary perspectives—including archaeology, history, the history of science and technology, sociology, and literature—guides students from examining the surface of artifacts to comprehending their deeper cultural connotations. Teaching practice demonstrates that this model effectively enhances students’ interdisciplinary thinking skills and cultural identity, providing a valuable pathway for universities to achieve the profound inheritance and innovation of traditional culture through general art education.