Category: Museum Anthropology Blog

Anne Ray Internship

The School for Advanced Research, Indian Arts Research Center (IARC) offers two nine-month internships (September 1–May 31) to individuals who are recent college graduates, current graduate students, or junior museum professionals interested in furthering their professional museum experience and enhancing their intellectual capacity for contributing to the expanding field and discourse of museum studies. The internships include a semi-monthly salary, free housing and utilities, a book allowance, the cost of one professional conference, and reimbursable travel to and from SAR. One internship is open to an Indigenous individual from the U.S. or Canada, and one internship is open to any U.S. or Canadian citizen meeting the application requirements.

Interns devote their time to working on IARC educational programming, research and writing activities, and collections management and registration. Other requirements include making one public presentation; attending a professional conference; assisting with IARC seminars, symposia, and collection tours; and working on outreach initiatives to local Native communities. Interns will also participate in interviews, photo sessions, video recordings, and exit interviews to document their experience.

For more information, please visit our online application portal or download the Anne Ray Internship Application. The deadline to apply is March 1st.

More here. 

Application review begins February 15, 2024

The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport Maine seeks a full-time education/interpretation intern for summer 2024. This internship will provide hands-on work experience in the daily operations of a medium-sized museum, including activities in different departments and working as a member of the front line staff. This internship will include professional development field trips to other museums (inperson or online) and participation in an intern cohort.

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

• Participate in the intern cohort

o Assist with and lead programming

o Submit articles for enews

o Conduct evaluations with visitors

o Contribute posts and videos to social media

o Assist with projects in different museum departments

o Attend weekly intern meetings and intern field trips to other museums

o Complete an internship project related to the intern’s skills and interests and adapted to their education level

• Engage with visitors

o Welcome visitors and answer questions

o Learn written guided tours and lead scheduled guided tours

o Lead groups of children (scouts, field trips, etc.) through exhibits

o Assist or lead children’s crafts and programs

o Lead two week-long children’s day camps

• Contribute to a positive, safe, and tidy work environment

o Work as part of a team and staff buildings/give presentations solo

o Respond to security and/or safety concerns

o Perform minor housekeeping in exhibit buildings, including sweeping, vacuuming, and monitoring pests, as needed

• Additional duties may include

o Covering the gift shop, including selling admissions, gift shop sales, and answering the phone

o Conducting research

o Other duties as assigned

More here. 

Deadline to submit Session Proposals is February 15, 2024. Proposals submitted after the deadline will be considered on a space available basis.

The ATALM Conferences fulfill the educational and networking needs of indigenous peoples from throughout the world. Known for delivering practical and culturally relevant training, the conferences provide a unique opportunity to share knowledge and build networks.

Program decisions will be announced by April 1, after which the Program Committee will work with presenters to finalize session descriptions and content. The preliminary program will be announced to the public by May 15.

More here.

Via Smithsonian Magazine, 5 December 2023

By Teresa Nowakowski

The history of zines—short for “fanzines” or magazines—stretches back to the 1930s, when authors produced short, usually self-made publications with mimeograph machines. Early zines were associated with science fiction fans, eventually expanding into categories like comic books and rock music.

Their popularity took off in the 1970s, when they were typically produced using copy machines. Since then, zines have connected members of various movements, becoming vital tools for artists and members of communities to express themselves and build connections.

Now, an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum is spotlighting the power of these publications. Titled “Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines,” the show begins in the 1970s and continues to the present day.

“Part of the ethos of these fanzines is that they’re very open to reader feedback and participation,” says Branden Joseph, an art historian at Columbia University and one of the exhibition’s curators, to WNYC’s Alison Stewart. “They welcome correspondence. They welcome contributions. … They’re more open and collaborative with a community than your typical magazine, [which] has a gatekeeper function.”

More here. 

Via ArtNews, 6 October 2023

By Francesca Aton

The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is replacing its docents with paid learning guides from local colleges, reported local newspaper Willamette Week on Wednesday.

The news was announced to the 175 docents via email on August 22. With the subject line “Future Directions,” the museum explained it was ending its 40-year-old docent council structure to bring in paid learning guides recruited from local colleges. The decision was made with the help of a committee.

PAM’s pilot group includes four paid learning guides who started training last week and will give tours to students two days per week. The museum is recruiting from Portland Community College, Portland State University, and Lewis & Clark College.

Former docents, who previously lead museum tours and aided with continuing education, can be part of a new volunteer program where they can serve as educators, greeters, and coat-check helpers.

“The message is really clear that the services of a group of older, retired educators are no longer needed,” retired art teacher and former PAM docent Paulla Dacklin told Willamette Week.

The docent council, says PAM’s executive director and chief curator Brian Ferriso, is “evolving to meet the needs of the community.”

More here. 

 

Via Artnet News, 18 October 2023

By Jo Lawson-Tancred

A new app offering museum visitors a digitally enhanced experience with A.I.-generated recommendations has been launched in the Italian city of Turin. I-MUSE aims to house a mix of partner museums in one virtual space so that when a user shows an interest in one object, they are offered suggestions about similar objects or exhibition at other institutions. The app’s aim is to engage new audiences and boost footfall at museums.

The recommendations made by the A.I. could depend on various characteristics such as style, period, movement, or subject. For example, if a user is particularly interested in Renoir’s La Baigneuse Blonde (1882) at the Pinacoteca Agnelli, the app might suggest they go see Portrait of a Lady (1889) by Giovanni Boldini, which is at the Galeria d’Arte Moderna (GAM) collections, a 20-minute drive across the city.

“The point is to give visitors extra information that might not be easy to find otherwise,” said Giovanni Mastrobuoni, one of the principal investigators responsible for the project. “Individual museums don’t have an interest in sharing what else individuals might like that is not based in their own building. So the novelty is that we generate these positive spillovers towards other museums.”

More here. 

Faculty Fellow in Museum Studies
Program in Museum Studies
New York University Arts and Science

The Program in Museum Studies, an interdisciplinary program of the Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University, invites applications for a Faculty Fellow. The initial appointment will be for one year beginning September 1, 2024, with the expectation of annual renewal for up to one additional year, pending administrative and budgetary approval and satisfactory performance. We seek strong scholars whose research interests engage the history and theory of museums with a specialization in decolonial theory in museums and/or heritage and cultural property.

Faculty Fellow:
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, teaching three Museum Studies courses a year, coordination of thesis work, advising master’s theses, and actively participating in the life of a dynamic program. Teaching experience in higher education is required, and at least one (1) year of professional museum experience is highly desirable. A minimum of an MA degree is required; a Ph.D. must have been completed within five years prior to the start date of appointment.

Review of applications will begin on January 15, 2024 and continue until the search is complete.

NYU Program in Museum Studies
The NYU Program in Museum Studies has been training museum professionals for more than four decades. Courses are offered by outstanding interdisciplinary scholars and museum professionals. Located in New York, a global cultural hub, students gain unparalleled preparation for careers in the field. Our alumni work in fine art, history, anthropology, technology, and natural history museums; in arboretums, national parks, and science centers; and in government agencies, historical societies, and more. Core classes are designed for students to understand the historical and theoretical implications of current museum practice, development and management of collections and exhibitions, and a comprehensive account of the administrative, strategic, and financial aspects of museum management. In addition to our core courses, students choose from a wide range of electives that further and deepen their understanding of museum practice and engagement. The program attracts a diverse student body, including students from all over the world. Inclusive classroom experiences are essential for our teaching.

To apply, submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, three letters of reference, descriptions of three Museum Studies courses you would like to teach, and a 1-2 page statement outlining how diversity, equity, access, and inclusion have moved from theory into practice and action in your past and present teaching, research, and lived experience. Submit your completed application at apply.interfolio.com/136933.

More information about the department can be found at http://museumstudies.as.nyu.edu.

Arts & Science at NYU is at the heart of a leading research university that spans the globe. We seek scholars of the highest caliber, who embody the diversity of the United States as well as the global society in which we live. NYU affirms the value of differing perspectives on the world as we strive to build the strongest possible university with the widest reach. To learn more about the FAS commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion, please read
(http://as.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/as/administrative-resources/office/dean/diversity-initiative.html).

In compliance with NYC’s Pay Transparency Act, the annual base salary range for this position is $60,000. New York University considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, as well as market and organizational considerations when extending an offer.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
For people in the EU, click here for information on your privacy rights under GDPR: www.nyu.edu/it/gdpr

NYU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to a policy of equal treatment and opportunity in every aspect of its recruitment and hiring process without regard to age, alienage, caregiver status, childbirth, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, familial status, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital status, military status, national origin, parental status, partnership status, predisposing genetic characteristics, pregnancy, race, religion, reproductive health decision making, sex, sexual orientation, unemployment status, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons of minority sexual orientation or gender identity, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels.

More here. 

SIMA 2024 Call For Applications

The Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology (SIMA) is happy to announce that we are accepting proposals from prospective graduate student participants for the 2024 program. The program will be held next summer at the National Museum of Natural History from June 24 – July 19, 2024. We hope you will forward this announcement to interested students and re-post to relevant lists.

SIMA is a graduate student summer training program in museum research methods offered through the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History with major funding from the Cultural Anthropology Program of the National Science Foundation.

During four weeks of intensive training in seminars and hands-on workshops at the museum and an off-site collections facility, students are introduced to the scope of collections and their potential as data. Students become acquainted with strategies for navigating museum systems, learn to select methods to examine and analyze museum specimens, and consider a range of theoretical issues that collections-based research may address. In consultation with faculty, each student carries out preliminary data collection on a topic of their own choice and develops a prospectus for research to be implemented upon return to their home university. Visiting faculty members for 2024 will be announced in the coming months. Local faculty will include Dr. Joshua A. Bell, SIMA director and Dr. Candace Greene, Director emeritus of SIMA, as well as other Smithsonian Institution Department of Anthropology curators and staff.

Who should apply?
Graduate students preparing for research careers in cultural anthropology who are interested in using museum collections as a data source. The program is not designed to serve students seeking careers in museum management. Students at both the masters and doctoral level will be considered for acceptance. Students in related interdisciplinary programs (Indigenous Studies, Folklore, etc.) are welcome to apply if the proposed project is anthropological in nature. All U.S. students are eligible for acceptance, even if studying abroad. International students can be considered only if they are enrolled in a university in the U.S. Canadian First Nation members are eligible under treaty agreements.

Costs:

The program covers students’ tuition and shared housing in local furnished apartments. A small stipend will be provided to assist with the cost of food and other local expenses. Participants are individually responsible for the cost of travel to and from Washington, DC.

Dates: June 24, 2024 – July 19, 2024

Application deadline – March 1, 2024

For detailed information about SIMA please visit:

https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/anthropology/programs/summer-institute-museum-anthropology

For full application instructions visit:

https://naturalhistory.si.edu/research/anthropology/programs/summer-institute-museum-anthropology/sima-application-instructions

Additional questions? Want to discuss a project proposal? Email SIMA@si.edu

Title: Schiller Family Curator of Indigenous American Art

State Role Title: VMFA Senior

Hiring Range: $90,000 – $100,000

Pay Band: UG

Agency: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Location: MAIN MUSEUM

Agency Website: https://vmfa.museum/about/jobs/

Recruitment Type: General Public – G

Job Duties

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) seeks a dynamic and energetic individual to become the inaugural Schiller Family Curator of Indigenous American Art. VMFA has a longstanding commitment to Virginia’s Indigenous American communities, and recently unveiled signage in the building and on our website acknowledging the presence of indigenous peoples on the land where the museum stands. The Schiller Family Curator of Indigenous American Art will help shape the museum’s commitment to Indigenous American art and will be responsible for acquisitions, community research, exhibitions, gallery displays, publications, public programs, and research related to VMFA’s growing collection of nearly 1,000 works of art. Reporting to the Chief Curator and Deputy Director for Art and Education, this position will also play a key role in the reinstallation of Indigenous American art in the new wing as part of the museum’s upcoming expansion and renovation project.

Specific responsibilities include: organize exhibitions with scholarly catalogues; build the Indigenous American Art collection through gifts and purchases; organize regular rotating art installations; contribute scholarship to the field in the form of publications and presentations at conferences; work across departments to achieve museum’s strategic plan; develop and regularly update the Indigenous American Art collection plan; engage with local and regional tribes for acquisitions, community outreach, and educational programming; update records in TMS; handle all loans from the collection; work with public, volunteers, and staff in program and educational training; work with American art curators on collaborative installations, exhibitions, and programs; and facilitate advancement initiatives, patron development, and grant-writing.

This position comes with a salary of competitive salary plus benefits and is supported by a restricted position gift, funded by the Schiller Family.

The anticipated hire date for this position is July 2024 or sooner.

This is a salaried, faculty, exempt position that offers Commonwealth of Virginia employee benefits such as 12 paid holidays, health benefits and more. VMFA staff also enjoy museum benefits like free admission to special exhibitions, previews of special exhibitions, employee pricing for select museum programs and classes, and discounts at Amuse Restaurant, Best Café, and VMFA Shop.

More here. 

The Department of Comparative Cultural Studies (https://nau.edu/ccs/) is seeking a pre-doctoral or post-doctoral fellow for 2024-2025 to teach Native American art history. A fellow earns a one-year salary of $54,000, teaches one class per semester, and then is eligible to transition into a full-salaried, tenure-track line as an assistant professor.
Applicants are encouraged to send a letter of interest and CV to:
Tom Patin, Professor, Art History, Northern Arizona University, tom.patin@nau.edu

More here.