Linda wrote:

 The
>truth is they regard the Diploma or Masters in museum studies as somewhat
>micky mouse.
>
>This is pretty devastating news for me.  However, when I look into my own
>attitudes, I realise that before I began teaching the subject, I too shared
>the micky mouse view (need I say that I learned museum business on the job
>- so who needs a qualification?).  It's only since I began carefully
>devising and conducting courses that I understood how useful this would
>have been to me fifteen years ago, or how appropriate it would be for
>people presently working in museums.

This has just given me a new slant on this discussion. Perhaps the problem
is one of perceived value--people who teach museum studies courses may need
to develop ways to show the professional museum community that these
courses are valuable and on target. How to accomplish this? I don't know,
but in publication management courses I try to incorporate real-life guest
speakers, use professional books rather than textbooks, and generally try
to involve the publishing community in our courses. Is there any way this
would work for museum studies?
Ivy Fleck Strickler                     Phone 215-895-1637
Drexel University                       Fax 215-895-4917
Nesbitt College of Design Arts          [log in to unmask]
Philadelphia, PA 19104

"Never forget that life is like a Fellini movie, and you're getting to see
it for free."