Museum Studies in Motion Winter 2014-15
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Be at the center of things.
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Volume 7, Issue
NEWSLETTER OF THE MUSEUM STUDIES PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
NEW COURSES OFFER SKILL BUILDING
This semester, the Museum Studies Program was delighted to have Armand Battisti teaching his one credit Fundaments of Professional Fundraising course. "Anyone entering that world today, regardless of job title, will have a role in raising private funds to sustain their projects," Battisti said. In the class, Battisti said he wanted to "give the students a comprehensive overview of the structure and function of development in non-profit organizations." He especially focused on removing what he called "the mystique and fear that most people have around asking for gifts." The class received overwhelmingly positive response from the students, who especially appreciated Battisti's teaching skills and his many professional experiences. Students who took the course reported feeling much less apprehensive about fundraising in their professional futures. "The students really loved the live major donor meetings I did in class," Battisti said. "I will add more of that next fall." Courses like this allow the Department to be innovative and take advantage of unique opportunities. For instance, we also offered a one credit taught by Susan Randolph, Executive Director of the Marshall Steam Museum and Friends of Auburn Heights, LLC. The class assisted in creating and running the organization's annual fundraiser. Battisti will offer the "Fundamentals" again next year, and will also be teaching a new one-credit course on leadership and boards of trustees. Other one-credit courses being offered include grant writing and desktop publishing.
The antique automobile show, "Auburn Heights Invitational," raises funds for the Friends of Auburn Heights LLC.
In this issue... New Courses, pg. 1
Director's Message, pg. 2
Alumni Interview: Laura Muskavitch, pg. 3
Sustaining Places News, pg. 4
New Exhibit at 77 E Main, pg. 4
www.udel.edu/museumstudies
Eversmann, our former internship coordinator; Mary Jane Taylor; Fran Jackson, a new friend and returning student in the Longwood Graduate Program; Michele Anstine, deputy director of the Delaware Historical Society; Shonie Castle of the Human Resources Department KATHERINE C. GRIER at Winterthur ; and Armand Battisti. They kcgrier@udel.edu donated an afternoon at a busy time of year to work with our students on preparing for the job market, including improving their resumes and As always, things are interviewing skills and writing persuasive cover hoppin’ around the letters. All sixteen students in the class also Museum Studies office. created e-portfolios, a new way to preserve their Fall 2014 courses recently wrapped up. Rosemary Krill’s seminar on museum work and present it to employers. education developed wonderful lesson plans and teaching materials for the Old Swedes Historic Site As you can see, the Museum Studies Program in Wilmington, Delaware. Armand Battisti offered relies upon its friends to enrich the experience his one-credit intensive course on fundraising and of students. We’re fortunate to have so many talented professionals, including alumni, to call development for the second time and received on as both faculty and mentors. We hope that rave reviews. As always, I offered our core you will become a friend of the Museum Studies course, MSST 600. This time the class benefited from the wisdom of guest speakers Mike Connolly, program, too. Plans are in the works for a way to get our alumni and other friends more Executive Director of the New Castle Historical involved in the program, and we will reach out Society, and Lindsey Baker, Executive Director of to you about this in 2015. And please think the Laurel (Maryland) Historical Society. Lindsey of us as you plan your end-of-year charitable and Mike shared their perspectives (and some contributions. If you decide to make a donation funny stories) on being the director of a small to us, please specify “Museum Studies Program organization. Michele Anstine, deputy director – Alexander Endowment” on your check or on of the Delaware Historical Society, filled in for the University of Delaware’s electronic donation me one week and led a spirited class discussion form. on collections and the ethics of de-accessioning. Mary Jane Taylor, our energetic and resourceful And, finally, don’t forget to let us know about internship coordinator, is already working with your professional achievements: new jobs, new students to help them identify and apply for publications, exhibitions or other news. We’d appropriate opportunities for summer 2015. love to feature you on our new website, which will debut in March 2015, and in the pages of We held a career workshop for the students of this newsletter. the introductory seminar on Thursday, December
Director’s Message
4. This year, I was able to draw on the talents and good will of many friends: Terry Snyder, Director of the Haverford College Library; Pauline
Kasey Grier with Kim Burdick, director of the HaleByrnes House, who let us hold a Sustaining Places workshop at her site. 2
My best wishes for 2015. May you only be as busy as you want to be…
During Career Day, Michele Anstine and Fran Jackson led a small group critique of resumes.
Museum Studies in Motion - University of Delaware - Winter 2014-15
Alumni Spotlight on . . .
Laura Muskavitch '12
This fall, we are spotlighting Laura Muskavitch, an archivist at History Associates, Inc. in Rockville, MD. Muskavitch is a 2012 graduate of the Department of History MA program and the recipient of a Museum Studies certificate. What are your major responsibilities at History Associates? History Associates is a small company in that provides a variety of history-related services to clients ranging from archives and collections work to historical research and content development for books, exhibits, and litigation. As an archivist, most of the projects that I have worked on are focused on surveying, processing, and describing paper collections for clients, who so far have including several National Parks and a company preparing to celebrate a major anniversary. In addition to archival work, I have also had the chance to work on projects involving cataloging of museum objects, historical research at archives and libraries around the country, and the selection and acquisition of images on behalf of museums for use in exhibit production. I really enjoy the variety of project work and fact that I get to continue to draw on the full range of history, museum studies, and archives skills I developed in graduate school. How did you intially bcome interested in archival work? What fascinates me about archives and manuscript collections is the raw immediacy of the material. Each document is a flash of insight into the activities and world of the record’s creator, a small part of a larger story, the outline of which is traced by the collection as a whole. Be they letters, photographs, or even financial ledgers, the materials I get to work with are the sources that historians, students, and others will read, interpret, and piece together for year and year to come in order to tell the story of the past. We cannot, and must not, keep every piece of paper or electronic file, therefore, what is kept must be selected, preserved, and made accessible with conscious intention and appropriately calibrated care. Being part of this process of saving and making available pieces of raw history is pretty thrilling. How has the Museum Studies Program prepared you for your career? The combination of course work and practical experience provided by the Museum Studies curriculum was an excellent preparation for my
work as an archivist. While archival theory is at the core of daily decision-making in the field, every collection is different in practice, so learning the theory while simultaneously working with collection materials first-hand is, I think, the best way to prepare for a career in archives and manuscripts. The Curatorship and Management of Archives and Paper Collections course taught by Dr. Terry Snyder was a fantastic introduction to the subject. The course is a deftly distilled overview of archival theory and best practice paired with practical application assignments in processing and surveying. In addition to this foundational course, the Museum Studies Program also provided me with a number of opportunities to gain further practical experience. I had the chance to work with paper collections on two SWAT projects, and I completed an internship and a graduate assistantship at the Hagley Library. Is this job you pictured for yourself when you entered the program? How did you end up in it? Many of the jobs available to entry-level archival professionals are term, project-based positions, and I had planned to search around the country until I found one of these jobs to begin on the path toward permanent, full-time employment as an archivist at a repository. When I began job searching, I did not know that firms like History Associates existed. It was the archivist supervising my practicum for the Museum Studies archives course who told me about the available position. Thanks to her, I now have a job that allows me to gain the varied experience I would have had as a project archivist, but remain living in the same place and employed full-time by as single employer. What advice do you have for current Museum Studies students or recent graduates? To current students, I would say that even though you may be swamped with coursework and assistantship or fellowship responsibilities, try to take advantage of as many opportunities as you can to gain additional hands-on experience and connect with professionals in the field. Both will be invaluable when you enter the job market. The program provide a substantial number of these opportunities, but do not be afraid to ask for help in finding additional ones that are best-suited to your specific interests. And to recent graduates looking for jobs, I would suggest thinking about expanding your search beyond non-profits and government agencies to also include private companies. There may be positions out there worth considering that could turn out to be a great fit.
Museum Studies in Motion - University of Delaware - Winter 2014-15
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Come See Our New Exhibit!
Sustaining Places Going Strong This semester, the Museum Studies Program IMLS grant project, Sustaining Places, continued to assistant area museum by Stephanie Lampkinprofessionals and laid exciting plans for the future. slampkin@udel.edu First, we are thrilled to announce that the next location for our Collections SWAT Team is Milton Historical Society in Milton, DE! Executive director Allison Schell provides excellent leadership for the society and we are looking forward to helping her out. The students involved will have a chance to learn numerous collections care and management skills from cleaning to rehousing and organizing objects. We cannot wait to get going!
Milton Historical Society in Milton, DE
In addition, several workshops offered in the fall trained nearly 50 individuals in collections care, successful podcast creation, and techniques for dealing with executive boards. We were lucky to have great instructors, including Brian Gomez from PastPerfect, development professional Armand Battisti, and Kimberly Andrews, the Executive Director of Shofuso Japanese House and Garden. Many of the resources offered at the workshops are available free on sustainingplaces.com.
In conjunction with the Upper Bay Museum in North East, MD, we are opening a temporary exhibit at 77 East Main St! While the museum is closed for the winter, they have loaned us some of their collection. Museum Studies student and former SWAT participant Heather Guerling curated, designed, and installed the exhibit. The project arose from last year's SWAT project at the Upper Bay Museum. Its subject is duck hunting on the Upper Chesapeake and includes a fike net, punt gun skiff, and other tools of the trade. We will be hosting an opening reception at the beginning of the spring semester. Check back with us for details!
Contact Us
The Museum Studies Program at the University of Delaware 77 East Main Street | Newark, DE 19711 (302) 831-1251 http://www.udel.edu/museumstudies museumstudies@udel.edu Katherine (Kasey) Grier, Director Tracy Jentzsch, Staff Assistant Nicole Belolan, Graduate Assistant Della Keyser, Graduate Assistant Betsy Keene, Graduate Assistant
Discussing best collections care practices at the Taming Your Treasures workshop at the Hale-Byrnes House. 4
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Museum Studies in Motion - University of Delaware - Winter 2014-15