Hi Rosie et al.,
I'll take a leap of faith that folks on
Museum-L will read this as professionals, and will respond
likewise.
Why go to the UK?
The opportunity to live in a new
environment and culture, to interact with a more diverse student body,
to travel around Europe. Seeing how the other side of the Atlantic
deals with material culture, museology, education, etc. A variety of
life experience is often favored in the museum profession, by those doing
the hiring. Right? Growing up in a fish bowl is unlikely to be
conducive to creative problem-solving and decision-making, and limits the
potential for professional networking.
Are there excellent programs in the
US?
I'm not questioning the quality of any
programs anywhere. There are excellent programs in the US and in the
UK. Surely other countries also have good programs -- Canada, Germany,
etc. But reputations are subjective. Faculty and alumni of
programs -- as we all know -- are likely to think their program was excellent
(or at least good). Could I be the only alumnus of a graduate program
disillusioned, capable of recognizing *and* admitting to the flaws of the
program I completed? LOL! (I didn't study Museum Studies which,
perhaps, might have been a more satisfying experience.)
Why not utilize undergraduate programs
that exist?
The main reason, I suggest -- and
correct me if I'm wrong -- is that a Museum Studies graduate degree coupled
with volunteer experience will likely trump an undergraduate degree coupled with
volunteer experience. Even if there's an additional certificate or
diploma. Most students -- at either level -- lack professional experience
in museums; however, almost any work experience will provide and/or bolster
important professional skills. (For example"customer service" which can
bolster "visitor service" and/or "donor relations," and graphic or display
design in a retail store can lead toward graphic or exhibition
design in a museum.)
The big question left unanswered is,
why are such questions asked in the first place? Why should American
students *not* study abroad? And, the corollary: Why should international
students *not* study in the United States? If this is an increasingly
'global village' -- to borrow my fellow Canadian Marshall McLuhan's oft-cited
phrase -- shouldn't future generations be encouraged to pursue global
interests? Is an inward-looking chauvinism not the leading cause of
intellectual entropy, the gradual decrease of vitality in fields of discourse
that depend upon global vision and visionaries?
These are questions intended for
thought and courteous discussion . . . *not* an invitation for a flame
war. If the desire to flame me exists develops, please resist the
temptation.
Best wishes, sincerely,
Jay Heuman, Curator of Education
Nora
Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
Utah State University
4020 Old Main
Hill
Logan, UT 84322-4020
T 435.797.0165 | F
435.797.3423
Education costs money, but then so does
ignorance.
Sir Charles Moser, b. 1922
Rosie
DiVernieri wrote:
Ok
Jillian...I know that this doesn't answer your question, but I have another
question to throw out to the
group.
1) Why are students
from the US going to the UK for grad programs in Museum Studies where there are
excellent programs here in the
US?
and
2)
Why aren't more people utilizing the undergraduate programs that
exist?
Just a little
thought.
Rosie
DiVernieri