Staff

Program Director

Marjorie Swann
Director of Museum Studies
Associate Professor and Conger-Gabel Teaching Professor, Department of English
mswann@ku.edu

Marjorie Swann received her D.Phil. in English Literature from Oxford University.  She has published a book — Curiosities and Texts: The Culture of Collecting in Early Modern England (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001) — and articles about Renaissance material culture, as well as essays on the history of the visual arts and art collecting in Kansas and the Great Plains.  Professor Swann has co-directed a faculty seminar on collecting and collections at KU’s Hall Center for the Humanities and has also co-written two successful grant applications to the Museum Loan Network for projects involving Museum Studies students.  Professor Swann teaches courses about the history and theory of collecting and museums for the Museum Studies program.

Senior Administrative Associate

Sara Lundberg
Senior Administrative Associate
saratune@ku.edu

Sara Lundberg has been working at the University of Kansas since Fall of 2006. Before joining the Museum Studies Program in October of 2008, she worked for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Academic Services office. Sara received her Bachelor of General Studies in Creative Writing from the University of Kansas in Spring of 2006.

Sara’s position encompasses the duties of office manager, accountant, scheduling officer, hiring manager, and graduate secretary.

Graduate Research Assistant

Ann Benning
Graduate Research Assistant
abenning@ku.edu

Ann Benning is a second-year Museum Studies graduate student in the Anthropology track. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Missouri in St. Louis.

Lecturers

Whitney Baker
wbaker@ku.edu

Whitney Baker is the Conservator for KU Libraries, a post she has held since 2002. A KU graduate (BA Chemistry and Spanish), she received her MLS with an Advanced Certificate in Library and Archives Conservation from the University of Texas at Austin. She previously worked in conservation at the Library of Congress and the University of Kentucky.  Ms. Baker teaches MUSE 706, Conservation Principles and Practices, for the Museum Studies program.

Talia Karim
tkarim@ku.edu

Talia Karim is Collections Manager of Invertebrate Paleontology in the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas. Dr. Karim holds an M.Sc. in Earth Sciences from Oxford University (where she studied on a Marshall Scholarship) and a Ph.D. in Geoscience from the University of Iowa. In Spring 2010, Dr. Karim will teach MUSE 704 (Museum Collection Management) for the Museum Studies Program.

Robert Keckeisen
bkeckeisen@kshs.org

Robert Keckeisen is Director of the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka. He holds an M.A. in History from Wichita State University. In Fall 2009, Mr. Keckeisen will teach MUSE 701, Museum Management, for the Museum Studies program.

Mary Madden
mmadden@kshs.org

Mary Madden is Director of Education and Outreach at the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka.  She holds an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Kansas. In Fall 2009, Ms. Madden will teach MUSE 705, Introduction to Museum Public Education, for the Museum Studies program.

Bruce Scherting
bruce-s@ku.edu

Bruce Scherting earned a BS from Eastern Montana College and an MFA from Southern Illinois University. Mr. Scherting has over fifteen years of exhibition planning, design and fabrication experience and is currently the Exhibits Director at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center.  Previously Mr. Scherting worked for the University of Iowa Natural History Museum as an exhibition designer/developer and taught several courses in the museum studies program. Prior to this, he worked for several years at the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Mr. Scherting currently teaches MUSE 703, Introduction to Museum Exhibits, for the Museum Studies program.

Sherry Williams
swilliam@ku.edu

Sherry Williams is Curator of the Kansas Collection in the Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.  Ms. Williams holds an MLIS from the University of Oklahoma.  In Spring 2010, Ms. Williams will teach MUSE 707 (Practical Archival Principles) for the Museum Studies Program.