Good Afternoon Colleen,

You have posed an excellent question.  The answer is…… it all depends.

It all depends on what the person (or the committee), making the hiring decision needs and wants….. to find the best candidate to fit “that” job.  Every job has its own particular role and set of responsibilities; to meet the hiring museum’s needs at that point in time.  Sometimes the job’s particular role and set of responsibilities would best be filled by someone with a Masters in Museum Studies.  Other times the job’s particular role and set of responsibilities would be best filled by someone with a Masters in History with an option in Museum Studies. Or, some other combination of academic credentials.   To be honest, sometimes the person (or the committee), making the hiring decision is looking for a particular set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that are based on extensive museum experience – and NOT on the academic credentials, when making the hiring decision.

So, my advice to you is do what you can afford financially, minimizing student debt…..and, go with your “gut” feeling……. And look for a graduate program that combines museum studies (academics) with the vocational aspects of museum work (read: hands-on, experiential museography)…..through labs and internships for academic credit.

Best Wishes for Success,

Wesley

p.s. I received my graduate training in Museum Studies (with a concentration in museum archaeology), from a well—known museum studies program…… and I am convinced that the only reason I got my first professional job, back in the early 1970s was because I possessed a particular set of knowledge, skills, abilities, and….. practical hands-on museum experiences…… that the search committee was “searching” for to fill that particular job….. at that particular point in time.  It was not because, I was a graduate of a department of museum studies.  Sure, my graduate training gave me leg up on some of the competition, but it was NOT the only attribute that the search committee was looking for, when making the hiring decision.  In other words, the timing was fortuitous.   Some would say, the timing was impeccable.

Wesley S. Creel

Administrator of Programs

Pink Palace Family of Museums

3050 Central Avenue

Memphis, TN 38111

www.memphismuseums.org

Office 901.636.2370  new telephone number

FAX 901.636.2391  new FAX number

 

Please consider including the Pink Palace Family of Museums in your charitable giving plans

along with your other charitable interests.

Please visit all our great facilities as well as our website: www.memphismuseums.org Our mission: The Pink Palace Family of Museums inspires people to learn how history.science, technology and nature shape the mid-South. Through rich collections, thought-provoking exhibitions, and engaging programs, we encourage our diverse community to reflect on the past, understand the present, and influence the future

 

 

 

 

From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Colleen Filipek
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2012 10:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Question about Museum Work and Graduate School

 

 

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