I would just encourage prospective graduate students
to think carefully about what they want to be when
they grow up. Do you want to be a curator, a
professor, or an arts administrator? That may
determine what DEGREE you should pursue more so than
what courses to take. I went for art administrator.
And, because I would also like to be employed when I
grow up, I chose a degree which I felt was versatile
and practical. My degree is a MPA - for those not
familiar with a master of public affairs I liken it
to a MBA for the public/non-profit sector. During the
course of the curriculum, classes are offered in fund
raising, non-profit management and marketing,
leadership, decision making, managerial economics,
finance, law, grant writing, and believe or not:
interpersonal relationships.(<--I elected not to take
that one, I felt my relationships were interpersonal
enough.) Anyone interested can check out the MPA
program at Indiana University at
www.indiana.edu/~speaweb/index.html.
I should also point out, for those of you that are
engaged in pursuing an MA in art history and desire
instruction in fund raising, business law, marketing,
etc. that there are MANY continuing education
opportunities in almost every community that are much
less expensive than university courses.
Amy Kleinert
--- Jill <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I don't remember who said this, but I quote:
>
> "They teach us asinine details about esoteric
> artists when..."
>
> As an art historian and a curator, I am unbelievably
> offended at the
> suggestion that art history classes are useless to
> art museum professionals,
> and that art history programs should be teaching
> finance, development,
> grant-writing, and other professional skills. If
> you want those skills, go
> get an MBA or a non-profit management degree. If
> you want to be an art
> museum professional, well, maybe you shouldn't if
> you think knowing
> something about art and artists is 'asinine'.
>
> Another poster suggested that art history/museum
> training programs teach how
> to "play the game". Why should anyone get credit
> for learning how to
> network? Is it even possible to teach that? Why
> should an art history or
> museum studies department be teaching interpersonal
> business skills?
> Another wants his or her program to get them a job.
> I'm sorry, jobs are
> hard to come by. Art history professors are not
> career counselors. Go to
> your university's job placement service for that
> help. YES, your professors
> can help you out if they want to, but I don't think
> they are obligated to do
> so. If I were still teaching there would be no way
> I could teach 3 classes
> a semester, do committee work, publish, AND, on top
> of all that, serve as a
> job placement service for every single art history
> major, regardless of
> their quality as a student or job candidate. It's
> asking way too much.
> It's unreasonable.
>
> I agree that certain business-oriented skills are
> necessary in the museum
> world, but I think some students are expecting too
> much to be spoon-fed to
> them. EVERYBODY, from art historians to lawyers to
> welders, has to learn
> the interpersonal networking skills necessary to his
> or her profession, on
> their own. Don't ask your art history professors,
> who have spent their
> lives learning asinine details about esoteric
> artists, to also serve as
> management and finance professors as well.
>
> Whew. End of rant.
>
> To add to this thread:
>
> I wish I had taken a statistics course. I think
> everyone needs to
> understand basic statistics.
>
> I wish I hadn't taken...hmmm... can't think of much.
> Had a not-very-good
> education course called "Schooling in America" which
> was mainly a forum for
> Prof. Big Ego to tell us how wonderful and brilliant
> he was. Ugh. Again,
> the problem was the professor, not the content.
>
> Jill R. Chancey, Curator
> Lauren Rogers Museum of Art
> Laurel, MS
> (phone) 601-649-6374
> (fax) 601-649-6379
>
>
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