In a message dated 95-11-14 19:47:03 EST, [log in to unmask] (B.
Bengs) writes:

>I am a law student at the University of Iowa.  I will be graduating in
>December of 1996 so I am thinking about future employment.  What I want
>to know is if I would have a chance at getting hired by a museum in an
>administrative capacity.  My undergraduate degree is in history and I do
>not really have an interest in practicing law.  From my research into
>international cultural property law it seems like a knowledge of law
>would be helpful to a museum administrator.  If anybody can offer any
>advice on how best to qualify myself for such a position I would
>appreciate it.  If there is not a realistic possibility of ever getting
>such a job I would also appreciate notice of that fact.  Thanks for any help

Do you have a chance? The majority of all major museums in this country are
being run by lawyers b/c of the very things you so perceptively noted!!
However, please do the museum world a huge favor: take some museum studies
classes, read museum books by noted authors such as Ivan Karp, Marie Malaro
and Stephen Weil, and be more than just an administrator. Most of us who work
in museums do so for the love of culture, history, art and "stuff." God knows
it is not for the $$ :-) Having someone at the helm of your museum who is
both passionate about (fill in the blank) and grounded in legalese would be
nice. However, I doubt that many people who make it thru law school alive are
the type of person who finds conservation, registrarial or exhibit design
work worth spending time on...... Good luck. P. S. Why are you in law school
if you don't want to be a lawyer?

- Adrienne