And in terms of training, I haven't seen anyone mention that there is more
than one track to land you in a museum setting--MA's in cultural resource
management, for one, or history, art, or anthropology.  Not that the pay
gets any better, just that there are different avenues of approach that
aren't so exclusively geared to a museum job as the absolutely only viable
outcome . . .

Carolyn Breedlove
Executive Director
Kent Plantation House
Alexandria, LA
-----Original Message-----
From: bill.mulligan <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 6:59 PM
Subject: Re: Museum Wages


>I have not followed this whole thread, but as the director of a small
public
>history program that has placed nearly all of its graduates in museum
>positions, I would like to add a few thoughts.
>
>First, in my experience, telling people who have an interest in a museum
>career that jobs are few and the salaries less than they might like does
not
>persuade most people to not enroll. I try to be very candid with
prospective
>students and I suspect most people who direct programs are - but at the
time
>of enrollment many are not ready for the information. Many people think
that
>they will be different, I guess, or their enthusiasm blocks their ability
to
>hear what is being said.
>
>While there are many advantages to larger, established programs, there are
>advantages to smaller ones too -- we can devote more energy to helping
>students develop an effective course of study, find appropriate internships
>and other experiences to make them stronger candidates for jobs, and work
with
>them on placement. We have a great deal of flexibility to customize a
program,
>within some broad parameters. One reason we have kept our program small is
to
>help insure we can place the people we graduate. There is no point in a
large,
>but unplacable graduating class.
>
>All that said, if you are interested in substantial financial rewards for
your
>work, museums (or college teaching for that matter) are probably not
careers
>you should pursue. It may not be just in a larger, cosmic sense, but it is
the
>way it is and I see little likelihod that it will change any time soon.
There
>are jobs, but they are often not in larger cities or in larger museusm and
the
>starting salaries are not high, but they offer a lot of other rewards and a
>start to a career.
>Bill Mulligan
>
>
>William H. Mulligan, Jr.
>Associate Professor of History
>Director, Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute
>Murray State University
>Murray KY 42071-3341
>270/762-6571 Fax 270/762-6587
>
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