"Perhaps this is an old debate, but Christine's comment regarding Art
History vs. Fine Arts brings up a topic worth batting around the list.  Have
other people had experiences with this schism between academia and museums?" - 

It is a very old debate, although I don't recall seeing it on this list recently.  In a previous career as an archeologist I got into this same thing quite frequently - those who teach seldom respect those who work for private sector companies or governmental agencies, even those they (the teachers) taught are the non-academicians.  I think that it happens any/every time there is an academic "profession" where the teachers don't recognize the value of "applied" aside of their  field - I've seen it in history, anthropology, archeology.  Museums are just another one of those places where you can work outside of academia which  academicians don't feel are "real work," or at least valuable work.

Chris

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