Hello all.  I just recently joined the list, and I was wondering if I
could ask for an opinion from some of the museum professionals out there.  I
am an American student currently studying for an MA in Medieval Archaeology
in the UK.  My undergraduate degree is in Archaeology, but was an
interdisciplinary major in which I chose to focus on the art historical
rather than anthropological aspects of archaeology.  And here in the UK, my
medieval archaeology course has frequently been integrated with history and
art history.
    My goal has always been to work in a museum context, hopefully as a
curator, rather than in a strictly academic (teaching) one, because I feel
it's important to communicate knowledge to the public, not just to academic
circles (and I really *like* museums...)  So here's my question:  will my
archaeology background, rather than strictly art history or museum studies,
hinder me in getting a job as a curator?  I think this might be more of a
problem in the US than in the UK, because of the general American conception
of archaeology as 1) solely digging in the dirt, and 2) being almost
entirely prehistoric.  The medieval period, where my interest lies, seems to
only be treated as art history in the vast majority of US universities and
museums.  Is this a correct assessment?
    Also, I'm considering going on to do PhD research in some aspect of
medieval archaeology.  Here again, will this come across as
overspecialization, or too much research/not enough practicality to get a
curatorial job?  I've done internships with an art museum and worked with a
wide variety of medieval artifacts in my MA, but I'm worried that since my
academic training won't have been "practical" as far as museums are
concerned, I might never get to work in one.  Any advice, comments,
suggestions, ideas, or verbal abuse is welcomed, on or off-list.  Thanks.

Aleksandra

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