Hi Melanie,

I'm going to put in a good word for the Anthropology degree. I am an
archaeologist and have worked extensively in museums--archaeology and
history. If you are interested in archaeology museums specifically, I'd say
you really need the MA in Anthropology. Before making the decision, you
need to decide what exactly it is you want. I've also worked at history
museums and always looked for people with Museums Studies degrees when
hiring there, but when hiring in archaeology situations, I preferred good
experience and training in archaeology. So I'm all for the MA, just make
sure it's the right one.

Ann-Eliza

Ann-Eliza Lewis, Ph.D.
Collection Manager
Joseph Moore Museum
Earlham College
Richmond, Indiana

On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 12:55 PM, Melanie C Deer <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> I'm stuck in a sticky situation and I was hoping some of you had some
> advice. I volunteered/internship/did independent studies at the
> undergraduate level at the Arizona State Museum (ASM) in Tucson, AZ (as
> Southwest archaeological museum) for about two to three years and then
> managed to get a student position in the Repository and held that for a
> year, graduated with a BA in Anthropology and Creative Writing and I am
> currently employed full time at ASM working on a major repatriation project
> as well as working on finishing an article on a research project I did with
> Southwestern Prehistoric pottery that I hope to get published. Before I got
> the full-time position I had applied to Arizona State University's Museum
> Studies Master program and was accepted. I am scheduled to start classes
> Fall 2013 (I've already postponed enrollment the max amount of time, due to
> a different situation). My employers already knew about my plan to attend
> graduate school in a year before they hired me, so that is not a factor.
>
> I am wondering whether it would be better to stay at my full-time position
> and pursue a Masters later (in other words tell ASU I will not be attending
> classes in Fall 2013, potentially closing that door permanently) or if I
> should leave my full-time position to attend classes as originally intended
> risking not having a job when I graduate.
>
> An idea I had was to get an online Museum Studies Certificate while still
> working full-time at ASM and possibly do night classes to get an
> Anthropology MA. But I'm not sure how highly or lowly Museum Studies
> Certificates are viewed in the museum world.
>
> Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
> Melanie Deer
>
> ------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:
> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1
>

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

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . 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).