Student Perspectives

Many students in the Museum Studies program are able to find employment on campus. Below, meet a few of our current and former students, and hear what they have to say about the program.

John: The Museum Studies program has offered me a chance to learn how museums really work. There is more to museums than the romanticized jobs of Indiana Jones and Ross. I now understand different cataloging systems, how things are classified, and all the work that goes into creating an exhibit. It is important to get to know your class peers. It allows you to learn about the different opportunities others have taken. You should try to work on internships both on and off campus. I think that working at KU and working outside KU would be helpful because it allows you to see different working environments.

Martina, Curatorial Assistant, and John,
Graduate Research Assistant

What would you recommend to new students to have them make the most of their experience here?

Martina: Get involved with a museum in the area, in town, on campus as soon as possible. Don't limit yourself to just one kind of museum. You can learn museum skills in lots of different museums. Take advantage of all the museums in the area, and be social with the people in your program.

Andrew in the wet lab at the Natural History
Museum & Biodiversity Research Center.

Andrew: The Museum Studies program has provided me with a theoretical and classroom side to my Curatorial Assistant job.

What would you recommend to new students to have them make the most of their experience here?

Andrew: Take classes outside the Museum Studies program. Visit museums in different states. Do internships in museums, even if they are in a museum field that you are not intending to go into. You never know what you will enjoy, and that experience will be helpful for the job you do want.

How has the Museum Studies program benefited you?

Joseph: Just the name is helpful. The degree makes you more appealing as a professional, but it does not solidify a job for you. Get job experience, even if that means volunteering. Volunteer just to get established in museums and work your way up from there. That's how I got my job at the Spencer Museum of Art.

Joseph, Curatorial Intern, Education, at the
Spencer Museum of Art

How have the courses in the Museum Studies program influenced your career path?

Carol: I thought I'd like exhibit design, but after being in collections management and exhibits at the same time, I realized I had more of an interest in collections management. That's why I did an internship project at the Stannard Conservation Laboratory in KU's Watson Library that involved conservation work and a collections survey.

Carol in Stannard Conservation Laboratory

Rod: Collections management helped me the most, I think. I learned organizational skills and good collecting practices. In my current job we're limited as far as supplies. The course helped me learn what compromises can be made between theory and practice. And the program benefits from the practical experience of the instructors. What I like most is that the majority of my classes have had a practical project to them.

Rod, Curatorial Assistant for Division
of Vertebrate Paleontology

Jessica: The Museum Studies program has helped to broaden my understanding of what happens in a museum. I really didn't know what directors and conservators did, but now I know how different kinds of museum staff work together. I know how I'll be working with everyone and what I'll be doing. MSO (the Museum Students Organization) has also helped me to meet a lot of people, some of whom I might work with in the future.

Jessica, Herbarium Assistant in R.L. McGregor Herbarium

Jessica: For new students, I would suggest that they get involved as soon as possible, and definitely with MSO. I would not have gotten to visit the Liberty Memorial Museum or the Jazz Museum without MSO.