Emily--

A couple of points, for whatever they're worth.

Universities offer certain kinds of benefits that museums can't
match--tenure springs to mind.  Museums offer greater latitude, and
opportunities for less-regimented growth.  Which is more valuable to you?
Cross-appointments are common, but usually privilege one institution (based
on who foots most or all of the salary).

I'd certainly recommend doing both, at least to try each one and see which
proves more satisfying to you.  Perhaps you'll even decide to keep on doing
both.  It can be done.  I've managed to maintain a certain amount of adjunct
teaching while serving as a full-time curator, while also keeping up with
field work, research, publishing, professional involvement with national
organizations, etc.  The real key is that while one can do multiple
things--in many museums, that's a requirement--doing multiple tasks means no
single task gets done as often.  For some of us, that's an acceptable
trade-off.  I served as Chief Curator for several years on top of those
other tasks, and for a hellish year served as Interim Director on top of
that.  I don't recommend trying to juggle that many tasks (unless one has
developed an insatiable hunger for blood pressure medication), but in some
circumstances it's worth it.  Or it's just unavoidable.  But you have to
recognize the trade-off--more focused colleagues will publish more, or mount
more exhibits, or teach more classes (or have a life), simply because
they're spread out along fewer fronts.  Deciding if that's acceptable is a
personal decision, and a difficult one.

Second, and on a related note, those choices must often be taken within the
context of one or more institutions.  You have to consider whether it's
acceptable to you, then guess if it will be acceptable to the institution.
There may be times when the institution needs you to be a utility infielder,
and you may find yourself asked to do a dozen more tasks than you thought
you could possibly accomplish.  Despite the best intended time-management
statements, professionalism does sometimes entail rolling up your sleeves
and doing more than you could reasonably be asked to do.  Unfortunately,
there's a down side beyond the long hours.  When the institution then
decides to regularize hours and more narrowly define job descriptions and
responsibilities, you will be a jack of all trades when only masters of one
are welcome.  That doesn't mean you aren't actually a master of whatever the
new currency of merit happens to be, but your record isn't focused in that
area.  It does happen, and isn't pleasant.  I think that's a more common
experience in museums than universities, but I'n sure it also happens in
smaller departments or small colleges.

I've gotten enough pleasure from both that I think the problems are worth
it.  You can avoid the problems by choosing one area or the other, but you
also miss out on the benefits, challenges and craziness each area offers.
But remember--none of these are irrevocable choices.  You can always decide
to rethink, and move from academia to museums, or decide to go back and
finish a Ph.D. and expand into classroom settings.  I'd love to explain how
I reached my own decisions, but I couldn't honestly say.  Reasoning was less
the cause of the decision than my rationalization after the fact for what I
felt I had to do at the time.

Dang.  Makes me sound like a grown up.

AB


____________________________________

Alex W. Barker, Curator of Archaeology
Dallas Museum of Natural History
PO Box 150349 Dallas, TX 75315-0349
(214) 421-3466 ext. 244 [log in to unmask]






-----Original Message-----
From:   Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Automatic digest processor
Sent:   Monday, July 05, 1999 11:44 PM
To:     Recipients of MUSEUM-L digests
Subject:        MUSEUM-L Digest - 4 Jul 1999 to 5 Jul 1999 (#1999-186)

 Hello-
I am a graduate student who plans on beginning a Ph.D.
in Art History or Literature in the next few years. I
have been mulling over my options of pursuing a
university (professorship) career vs. a museum career
(administrative or curatorial.) I would love to hear
from anyone who has wrestled with this decision, and
anything which helped them reach a conclusion. :)
Thanks!

Emily

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://museums.state.nm.us/nmmnh/museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).