I think C. J. Dawson is a bit over-sensitive.  Academics and
museum people are not natural enemies; this is another one of those hasty
generalizations.  I know several people who got the PhD and went into
museum work--some even became dealers!!!--and are happy and don't feel at
all as if they have stepped down in life.   I would also like to point out
that most academics work in excess of the normal 40 hour week, what with
preparing classes, correcting papers, exams, etc, committee work, trying
to stay current in their field(s) and trying to publish.

        Adrienne DeAngelis

On Fri, 24 Mar 2000, Christopher J. Dawson wrote:

>
> It's annoying.  There's a lot of work that needs to be done in the museum
> world, and it requires commitment.  We don't have the luxury of working 9
> hours a week, for 8 months of the year.  We work a lot of long hours, and we
> work to make the museum a better place.  It's serious business, and people
> who are serious about it should enter the field.
>
> When I left my Ph.D. program for this job, I was summarily dismissed by one
> of my professors, who told me that the museum world was full of "amateurs,"
> and "little old ladies in sensible shoes."  Yet, in my work, I directly
> impact more people than my professor ever will.  A few people a year take
> his classes, and no one reads his book.  Yet the exhibits I curate or the
> articles I write reach a much broader audience, which has always been my
> goal.

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