Comments for Museum Blogging

Comment on Differentiating degree tracks in a graduate program by KL

KL — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:09:30 +0000

Can’t comment from the side of faculty in academia, but I can tell you that in my museum work I need all of those skills – grant writing, label writing (and research, of course), as well as the ability to write longer, more academic things like conference papers, articles, and books.
Thinking over the interns I’ve had in the past year, what I feel they’ve lacked most are hard technological skills. I wish they had some minimal graphic design skills (including basic proficiency with PhotoShop and InDesign), a basic grasp of HTML, a basic grasp of pdf creation options, etc.
I would suggest that the most appropriate measure of preparedness for the program should be closely related to the measures of success in the program.

Comment on Taking Risks in Museums by Museums & Risk Redux | I am almost always on time.

Museums & Risk Redux | I am almost always on time. — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:11:30 +0000

[...] I was strongly reminded of the May 2009 Helzel Colloquium “Risk and Reality” hosted by my Alma Mater, John F. Kennedy’s department of Museum Studies. For more about the Colloquium, see what I wrote about the day here (and read the comments, which are wonderful) as well as Leslie Madsen-Brooks’ post about the day here, “Taking Risks in Museums.” [...]

Comment on Tips for picking a graduate program that will be a good fit for you by Leslie

Leslie — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:50:40 +0000

Kristen and Emma–apologies! I somehow didn’t see your comments waiting in moderation until tonight.
As someone who accrued student loan debt almost without break from 1993 to 2006, I absolutely agree with you. And it’s not just student loan debt; other kinds of debts and opportunity costs come with graduate school, too–and the longer you’re in school, the faster these liabilities increase. I don’t like to do this math, but if I had stuck with my original career goal of being a high school teacher in California, I would have hit the classroom around 1997 or 1998 and thus have about 14 years of seniority in a school district. My salary would be much, much higher than it is now that I’m a professor in Idaho–and all along I would have been making a decent salary, whereas instead for many of those years I was in grad school, bringing home $13,000 a year at best as an instructor or teaching assistant. Of course, when your salary is that low, any unexpected costs–dental work, car repairs–become emergency expenses and too often ours went on a credit card. We’re still paying those debts down.

I’m glad that with the Occupy movement, especially on the CSU and UC campuses in California, there’s been a good deal of discourse about the burdens of student loan debt and the rapidly decreasing affordability of higher education. Perhaps more museum and public history programs need to find community partners who can sponsor additional scholarship or work-study opportunities for students. Of course, that’s FAR easier said than done.

Comment on Tips for picking a graduate program that will be a good fit for you by Emma

Emma — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:43:55 +0000

How about tuition and expected student debt load? The school that’s a great fit professionally or academically still might not be worth it, if it means years of financial difficulty, or if you end up unable to afford to work in the jobs you wanted to do in the first place. I’ve got plenty of colleagues — even at mid-level positions of the type that many students probably hope to have one day — who are struggling financially, largely because of heavy student loan debt. It sucks a lot of the enjoyment out of their careers. The reality is, public history is an overall low-paid, expensively educated field. I would strongly encourage students to get the numbers and do the math: figure out overall costs and probable monthly loan payments; seek out realistic, entry-level and mid-level salaries in their job markets; and seriously consider whether they would really be okay living on that budget. It’s a good idea to know up front what you’re committing to.

Comment on Tips for picking a graduate program that will be a good fit for you by Thinga-ma-bob Thursday | I am almost always on time.

Thinga-ma-bob Thursday | I am almost always on time. — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:59:21 +0000

[...] reading: Leslie Madsen-Brooks’ latest entry, “Tips for picking a graduate program that will be a good fit for you.” Dang that Dr. Lady is smart. I had a post on a similar topic some years ago, albeit not as well [...]

Comment on Tips for picking a graduate program that will be a good fit for you by Kristen

Kristen — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:20:11 +0000

Man, I wish I had something to add – but your post is wonderfully (unsurprisingly) comprehensive, with a healthy dose of encouraging others towards real critical thinking. Which is what the crux of this question about graduate school really is for me; has the person thought about the debt? The jobs themselves? The reality of the work?

I’m thinking of two former classmates, brilliant young women, got into the field during coursework, and just recently (in the last 6 months) got out of it. Because of: pay, no opportunity for advancement, unrealistic expectations, the functional-disfunctional dynamic. We could spin this into a larger discussion, of course, but let’s not and stay on track.

I guess what I’m saying is, before pursuing a degree, do homework on the career. Can you live with driving a 15 year old car? Do you read historical non-fiction for pleasure? Is there a bleed between how you’d define hobbies and work? Have you enjoyed a service job in the past? Volunteering is a good step, especially if it is a position that is behind the scenes (like stuffing envelopes) you’ll see the funny internal politics or decision-making just by being in the same space.

Comment on Museums and Second Life by “Museums and Second Life” | LIS 5590 Fall 2011

“Museums and Second Life” | LIS 5590 Fall 2011 — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:29:29 +0000

[...] Here’s the link: http://museumblogging.com/2006/08/02/museums-and-second-life/ [...]

Comment on Are stairway exhibits exclusionary? by Kaia

Kaia — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:03:22 +0000

I’m glad someone addressed this – the accessibility issues were the first thing that popped in my head when I first heard about this project.
Most people with disabilities aren’t looking for opportunities for lawsuits, and most will likely be okay with the fact that this exhibition is not available to them. Hopefully the museum is providing it in another format for people unable to use the stairs for whatever reason. I don’t think their goal is to exclude anyone (and thus the reason most people won’t be offended), but I do wonder whether this is a good model to follow.
Standard caveats aside, it seems they could be sued.

Comment on On museum internships by Elsewhere. . .

Elsewhere. . . — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 02:27:34 +0000

[...] you’re interested in museums and/or internships, I have the first post in a looooong time up at Museum [...]

Comment on Engaging in difficult dialogues by PreservationNation » Preservation Round-Up: Public History Edition, part 2

PreservationNation » Preservation Round-Up: Public History Edition, part 2 — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:01:32 +0000

[...] and case studies about the “tough stuff” of history. One panel talked about having a civil dialogue within the practice, while a session I attended discussed the pitfalls and essential practices required when collecting [...]