Overview

Who visits museums?  How are collections and archives constructed? What social roles do museums and archives play? Students in this Pathway will explore the diverse traditions of collection, curation, research, display, and preservation.

Students in the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway consider the histories, techniques, and challenges common to the diverse traditions of museums and collections, curation, and preservation practices. From small archives to large national collections, difficult dialogues surrounding justice and equity with respect to objects, collections, and accessibility are taking place at greater frequency. The Pathway seeks to promote and support a wide range of voices and to prioritize non-western contexts in decolonizing collections and institution. To this end, courses may also focus on specialized theoretical approaches to address histories of collection, teaching, and display, but also to confront issues of ownership, cultural patrimony, colonialism, and ethics.

Students who choose this Pathway might expect to:

• Build on critical understandings of the organization of arts, material culture, and science institutions
• Explore controversial aspects of history, culture, and identity
• Develop skills in information and collection management
• Learn about conservation and preservation techniques

Careers associated with this Pathway include an extraordinary array of disciplinary perspectives in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. They include, but are not limited to:

• Archival Science & Ethics, Documentary & Digital Preservation
• Library Science & Education
• Museum Studies & Curation (including Natural History [from botany to biology and paleontology to zoology])
• Public History
• Specialized Collections
• Digital Collections & Display
• Fine Arts
• Museum Education
• Museum & Gallery Management
• Corporate Collections Management
• Art Acquisition and Dealership
• Collection/Display Design & Ethics
• Cultural Patrimony & the Law
• Preservation & Conservation
• Archaeological Analyses
• Archaeological Ethics

Faculty & Staff

Tracy Cosgriff

Associate Professor of Art and Art History, Middle Eastern & North African Studies

tcosgriff@wooster.edu

Beth Derderian

Assistant Professor of Anthropology; Museum Studies

bderderian@wooster.edu

Claire Eager

Assistant Professor of English

ceager@wooster.edu

Mark Graham

Associate Professor of Religious Studies; South Asian Studies; East Asian Studies; Co-Liaison to the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway

mgraham@wooster.edu

Madonna Hettinger

Lawrence Stanley Chair and Professor of Medieval History; Pre-Law Program

mhettinger@wooster.edu

Denise Monbarren

Howard Lowry Endowed Professor, Special Collections Librarian

dmonbarren@wooster.edu

Kara Morrow

Professor of Art and Art History; Chair of Museum Studies

kmorrow@wooster.edu

Olivia Navarro-Farr

Professor of Archaeology, Sociology, and Anthropology; Program Chair for Archaeology

onavarro-farr@wooster.edu

Marianne Wardle

Director and Curator of College of Wooster Art Museum; Co-Liaison to the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway; Adjunct Associate Professor of Museum Studies

mwardle@wooster.edu

Becky Webb

Pathways Program Coordinator, Global Engagement Office Administrative Coordinator

rwebb@wooster.edu

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