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What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

  • 1.  What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-21-2017 11:33 AM

    Hello all,

    I've been working with a nearby, rather prestigious liberal arts college that wants to turn focus more on preparing students for the real world (rather than just grad school).  I've been acting as a guest lecturer for a Public History course, primarily discussing exhibit design, but recently met with the professor to discuss other skills.  In essence, her question to me was, "What do you wish you learned in college?"  What would have helped me either find a job faster, or succeed at that job once I landed it?

    To be clear, this is an undergraduate program and falls only under the History major, not a Museum Studies major.  Obviously the answers will vary depending on what focus the students want to go towards, what type of museums or other professional settings they want to work with, etc.  While every student dreams of one day working at the Smithsonian or other major museum, I believe the goal is more or less what will help them get a job, even if it's at a small museum?

    I struggled with the question, off the top of my head anyways...because not only is it a matter of answering what skills I wish I had, but also how do we (the professor and/or I) help the students gain those skills.

    Here are a few I came up with--please feel free to add your own, or to comment on mine:

    • Public Speaking -- it is vital for staff, particularly at a small museum, to be able to effectively engage visitors and potential donors.
    • Grant Writing -- I think we can all agree how vital grants are to the success of any non-profit, and grant writing is always in demand.
    • Core Documents -- this is a bit of a stretch, but the ability to formulate, or even understand, the Core Documents would be helpful.
    • Archival Basics -- basics of how to handle collections, understanding materials (i.e. acid free) and environmental concerns (UV, humidity, etc).

    From my experience, public speaking is actually one of the most difficult tasks I have when training new interns.  Fortunately, the professor is already planning on expanding the public speaking requirements of this class.  Archival Basics are somewhat covered by this course and another one taught at the school, which include a trip to the college's Special Collections department with some handling of documents...but there is always room for improvement.  As for Grant Writing and Core Documents, we are discussing having the class (usually 15-20 students) in essence establish a fake museum.  As a class they could all establish the basics and background of the museum, including a mission statement, and then split into four groups to cover the other four Core Documents.  After that they would cover grants and be could all write fake grant requests (using actual grant requirements).  In addition to my own experience as a grant writer, I serve on a grant-giving foundation and have enough contacts on other foundations that I could form a "panel" to judge the requests and provide feedback to the students.  At the very least these should help at least give them a better understanding of some of the requirements and behind-the-scenes activities of running a museum.

    Sorry, I know this was a long post!  Looking forward to hearing any thoughts or suggestions...hands-on activities are always helpful! 



    ------------------------------
    Kenneth Libben , Curator
    Cleo Redd Fisher Museum - Mohican Historical Society
    Loudonville OH
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-22-2017 07:26 AM
    Collaboration, particularly multi-discipline, multi-cultural collaboration.  The practice was included in various courses, but the participants were generally coming from the same perspective and diversity was the business major among the host of liberal arts people.  Working abroad (or working with international teams) identified a huge gap in my expertise - I had to learn that there are not just the right way and the wrong way to do things but different, equally valid ways.

    ------------------------------
    Susan Day
    Director of Education
    Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah Museum
    Safat
    Director of EducationDirector of Education
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-22-2017 09:27 AM
    I would say grant writing would be at the top of my list. My school prepared me well on exhibit design, basic condition reporting, and archives, but taught next to nothing on grant writing. In fact, that was covered in one session of a first semester methodology course and the professor basically said "write a letter, get money." Thankfully we had a student in the class who had worked ten years for a granting agency who ended up telling us how it really worked.

    I would also say event and educational program planning. I think many schools focus a lot on archives, exhibitions, collection management, and preservation, but more can be done on how to develop programs, be it in collaboration with another organization or solely with one museum. It's a big way to learn about promoting the museum to the public.

    ------------------------------
    Nathan Stalvey
    Director
    Clarke County Historical Association
    Berryville VA
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-22-2017 09:52 AM
    Edited by Geoffrey Woodcox 08-22-2017 09:55 AM
    Hi Kenneth:

    Having a resume and cover letter workshop/seminar would be very helpful.  Even if it's a one day seminar or something that gets worked on with an adviser throughout the course of the semester.  You should also show them proper formatting for cover letters and maybe have them write a mock letter for a job listing that you provide. We had a resume critique in grad school and I had another one at a regional museum conference and they were both incredibly helpful. At the museum conference, they brought in people from the job services office of a local university to look at our materials and that might be a good idea.

    In reviewing internship applications, the quality of those materials is very uneven and shows that many people never receive that training during school.  As a new graduate in a very competitive field you need every advantage that you can get, and I think giving the students that tool would help them get a job a little bit faster once they're done with school.

    Best of luck moving forward.  It sounds like an exciting opportunity to do some good things!

    ------------------------------
    Geoffrey Woodcox
    Assistant Curator of Collections
    State Historical Society of North Dakota
    Bismarck ND
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-22-2017 03:00 PM
    What a great question!  A friend of mine and I who both work in museums had a whole list going at one time.  Many of the items on the list were the nitty gritty things.  Lots of programs teach you how to do the big ticket items, but do not do such a great job on the day to day responsibilities, and that menial work is where many people fresh out of school start!  Especially if they do not go on to grad school.  Some examples were artifact and historic house cleaning, insect identification, environmental monitoring, and light monitoring.  I completely believe that an internship in a museum, gallery, etc. should be a mandatory for every program.  I voluntarily did two before graduation and had no issues getting a job out of grad school.  One I did at a museum on my campus for academic credit, so there are low-cost internship options available to students.  My friend who relied on a museums studies graduate degree alone has struggled.  As far as the sort of big ticket items goes, I completely agree with grant writing, program development, and museum document development.  I took a class in grad school that adopted the simulated museum approach so that we all learned to build a collection that followed a mission, accessioned, deaccessioned, cataloged, did condition reports, labeled, etc.  It worked wonders for understanding the process and the best methods for developing the necessary paperwork/forms.  I would add large scale project planning, and this could go hand-in-hand with grant writing.  At some point, museum professionals will very likely have to plan a collections move, large catalog and/or preservation/conservation project, renovation of a permanent exhibit, etc.  I also strongly second the need for more public history education, specifically how to handle multicultural collaborations.  The process of decolonizing the museum is a constant learning curve, and at times can feel like a two steps forward and one back scenario.  I think our field as a whole could do a better job of providing students with tools and strategies for how to deal with that.  Last but not least, I would like to see recent grads having a better understanding of the listservs, forums (like this one), etc. that they can draw from.  The museum field is so varied.  It is less important that students know how to do everything and more important that they understand the resources and tools available to them to problem solve.

    ------------------------------
    Kristy Griffin
    Curator of Collections & Exhibits
    Sitka Historical Society
    Sitka AK
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-23-2017 09:48 AM
    I would add good communication skills.  Being able to speak in public is key as is being able to write well and communicate effectively.  Being able to write well will help with the grant writing too.

    Susan Maltby, Conservator
    Maltby & Associates Inc.
    Adjunct Faculty, Museum Studies Programme, Faculty of Information
    University of Toronto

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    Susan Maltby
    Conservator
    Toronto ON
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-23-2017 10:15 AM
    Hi!

    If the program doesn't already have an internship component I really recommend adding one. A lot of college students tend to graduate and don't have much in the way of real world experience within their degree, particularly after undergrad. I'd also recommend adding a seminar that lets sophomore history students learn about the career opportunities in history. I think most of us with a history degree have gotten the question at one time or another "what can you do with a degree in history?" If they discover the opportunities as a freshman or sophomore, and decide they don't like what they see they still have time to change their major without significantly impacting their graduation date (I worked in a registrar's office for a couple of years advising students, and saw this a lot). 

    Plus, a degree in history doesn't have to equate to working in a museum. It can lead to teaching either in secondary or post-secondary education, and librarianship. In fact having a degree in history is pretty useful in the library world, especially in reference and adult services. I've found that students do so much better early on when they are given a general objective and allowed to see where it leads them because ultimately they will be happier with their decision that way.

    ------------------------------
    Rebecca Payne, MLIS
    Director of Education
    Kansas Aviation Museum
    Wichita KS
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-23-2017 11:11 AM
    Great conversation! I recently submitted an abstract to AASLH for the call for articles to emerging museum professionals and this was the exact subject I broached. I have often said - and have heard colleagues say - "wow, I wish there had been a class for that" in the museum field. I identified several areas that I feel museum educators must focus more closely on:

    Technology:
    Technology is unavoidable in any profession and in the museum field it has become especially poignant. Today, Museums are charged with providing content that is more accessible and available. Most museum professionals understand the importance of access, but there is not always a clear path to providing access. Museum professionals need to have a process towards successfully providing digital content. 
     
    Equally, programs such as SketchUp and the Adobe Creative Cloud are imperative to good exhibit design; however, many museum studies programs do not offer classes in graphic design.  Today, job descriptions for exhibit design require graphic design skills. Emerging museum professionals are often dumbfounded when searching for positions in this area. How can we curb the design gap?
     
    Administration:
    Basic administration experience is imperative in any field, but especially so when managing patrons, donors, events, and programs. Emerging museum professionals often begin their journey with their undergraduate degree and transition directly into graduate school. This gap can be prohibitive when applying for museums that require project management and administrative skills. How can we expand our administrative acumen with a unique focus on museum administration?
     
    Fabrication:
    Putting an idea to paper is the first step in exhibit design, but making it a reality is something different altogether. When it comes to exhibit fabrication, there's a fundamental lack of understanding for basic construction, three-dimensional design, using power tools and the confidence to construct our ideas.  How do we make ourselves more capable?
     
    Development:
    Museum development is a necessary component in the museum field; yet, development is often relegated to senior professionals. Development skills that ensure the longevity of the museum should be shared with emerging professionals. How can we encourage senior museum professionals to "pass the torch?"

    I would love to see this as a session at AAM or AASLH.

    Thanks for posting!


    ------------------------------
    Monica Drake Pierce
    Lake Wales Museum & Cultural Center
    Lake Wales FL
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-23-2017 01:38 PM
    Hi Kenneth,

    Honestly, my university's history program offered little in the way of teaching students how to do original research, particularly with primary sources. There were assignments where this kind of labor was expected and professors would point you to different libraries or collections, but it was very much sink or swim and was always done independently on our own time. As a history museum educator, I often conduct original research to create and improve programs, and also use primary sources to teach students how to look closely at objects, documents, and photographs. I've learned most of this on the job, and frankly the longer I do this work the more I'm appalled that I wasn't required to take a research skills or historiography course. One resource that I love for incorporating research and primary sources into the classroom is TeachArchives.org developed by Brooklyn Historical Society. It has great examples of lessons and resources for teaching with primary sources in archival settings. 

    Cheers, 
    Emily

    ------------------------------
    Emily Turner
    K-12 & Youth Programs Educator
    Museum of History & Industry
    Seattle WA
    ------------------------------



  • 10.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-24-2017 01:54 PM
    Project management and scheduling basics. I think we all assume students learn project management in order to get work done, but I believe articulating the process is useful to many. The fundamentals are broadly applicable. Eventually most of us end up being project managers, whether or not that's our title. 

    Great question and answers!

    Lisa

    Lisa Friedlander
    Exhibits Project Specialist
    Minnesota History Center
    345 Kellogg Blvd West
    Saint Paul, MN 55102
    651-259-3052





  • 11.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-24-2017 02:48 PM

    Wow, I'm overwhelmed by all of your fantastic responses!  

    I definitely agree that all of these are great ideas and would have likely helped all of us prepare for jobs -- how much I can convince the professor/university to implement will be the big question!  My alma mater did not offer a Museum Studies major so I simply majored in history and was fortunate enough to land a job in the field...I'm curious for those of you who took an undergrad (or even graduate) Museum Studies program how much of the above was actually covered?

    I also agree with those that suggested this be a program/paper for AAM or AASLH to cover.

    And by all means, please keep throwing ideas out! 



    ------------------------------
    Kenny Libben , Curator
    Cleo Redd Fisher Museum - Mohican Historical Society
    Loudonville OH
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: What Do You Wish You Learned in College?

    Posted 08-29-2017 06:50 PM
    Excellent question and super important discussion! 

    I would definitely recommend Office Management as a required course. All of us at some point work within an office environment, and that is going to be no different for future museum or cultural institution workers. All graduates need to have letter-writing skills, how to properly file documents, how to type on a keyboard (without looking at it), be able to create spreadsheets on Excel, know how to take advantage of the different google and/or onedrive products. These skills are an asset, no matter what position you are.

    FYI, my bachelor degree was in Humanities and my masters degree was in Fine Arts.

    ------------------------------
    Lisa Ortega-Pol, MFA
    Museum Educator
    Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte
    University of Puerto Rico
    San Juan
    ------------------------------