Bravo, and I could not agree more to the message below! I did my M.A. in
history and intended to move straight on with the PhD while I was working at
my job (exec dir of a small museum). I had always intended to be in museums
and had worked my way through my MA at the university museum. I too felt the
same "snobbishness" mentioned below. Even my major professor looked down on
what I was doing as just a way to get through school. Needless to say, I took
a leave from the program. I tried to go back one more time and just realized
that's not where I belong. I love museums. This is my passion and my
profession. I will get the PhD, but most likely not in history. In the
meantime, I will continue to work my heart out for very little financial gain,
but great peace of mind. (Even with an MA, I must admit that I teach history
at a community college to supplement my income, and because I like it. But, I
do something different than most of my colleagues. Students "get into"
material culture. Maybe we can loosen up the up and coming historians to see
the value in museums and material culture!)

Teresa Goforth
Courthouse Square
Charlotte, MI


> > I've got a MA in history and am
working on a MA in museology,
with a > concentration in history. I went for the MA in museology because after
> earning my MA in history I realized it had very little to do with working in
> a museum, which is what I wanted to do.  In my museology program I've taken
> history classes with PhD students, becoming friends with some of them, and
> boy, can they be stuck up! According to them, only a "real" historian w/ a
> PhD in an academic setting can write "real" history, anyone else is suspect.
> And they wouldn't be caught dead working in a museum. This attitude may be
> naive becase they haven't entered the job search stage yet, but I still
> resent being patronized for wanting to work in a museum, and not as a
> professor. Especially if they start hogging all the museum jobs once they
> can't find academic positions!
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Janice Klein <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Friday, March 24, 2000 10:50 AM
> Subject: Re: Masters/PhD issue
>
>
> >Blessings on you Christopher Dawson!  I was trying to find a polite way to
> >express my irritation at people who "settle" for working in a museum until
> >they get something "better" and you have said it beautifully.
> >
> >
> >Janice Klein
> >Director (a professional museum administrator and proud of it)
> >Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Kendall College
> >[log in to unmask]
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Christopher J. Dawson <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> >Date: Friday, March 24, 2000 12:38 PM
> >Subject: Re: Masters/PhD issue
> >
> >
> >>Well, my two cents would be to go for the Ph.D.  If you really want to be
> a
> >>professor, don't go into museum work, because it doesn't sound like
> >>something you really want, just something to "dabble in" until you get to
> >>the holy land of the university.  Museum work isn't something to dabble in
> >>en route to a Ph.D., it is a career of its own, and requires the
> commitment
> >>(even more so) than a university professorship.
> >>
> >>To be honest, I have a Master's, and I choose to work in the museum field,
> >>and I plan on making it a long career.  I have encountered Ph.D.s in this
> >>field, but a lot of them are here as a "way station," either because they
> >>can't get that teaching job they covet, so they "settle" for working here,
> >>or just a place to bide their time and keep their resume warm while they
> >>maneuver around to get a tenure-track teaching position.
> >>
> >>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.
> >>
> >>I'm a public historian, and proud of it.  If you want to be an academic,
> >>choose that route, and don't dabble in this world.  Go for the Ph.D.
> >>program.  Good luck, because it'll be tough.  But if that's your goal,
> >>you'll find it rewarding as well.  I've certainly found public history
> much
> >>more rewarding than academic history.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>Christopher J. Dawson
> >>Curator of Urban and Industrial History
> >>Crawford Museum of Transportation and Industry Design Task Force
> >>Western Reserve Historical Society
> >>10825 East Boulevard
> >>Cleveland, Ohio 44106
> >>216-721-5722 x247
> >>[log in to unmask]
> >>
> >>"Next week there can't be any crisis.  My schedule is already full." --
> >>Henry Kissinger
> >>
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