Celebrating the “Museum of Marjorie”

September 7, 2020 by usfmuseumstudiesblog

On August 31, 2020, over eighty members of the USF Museum Studies community convened at a Zoom retirement party to celebrate the career of Marjorie Schwarzer. An award-winning writer, critic, and educator, Schwarzer served as the founding Administrative Director of the program since 2012, following her tenure as professor and chair of the Department of Museum Studies at John F. Kennedy University for over 15 years. Prior to her teaching career she held leadership positions in museums — including the […]

Categories: Alumni, Collaborations, Forums, Museum Studies

The Virtual Museum: Before Virtual

July 27, 2020 by usfmuseumstudiesblog

by Megan K. Udell (MA, 2019) Many museums have closed for nearly five months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A few are beginning to reopen, though not necessarily at full capacity, thanks to social distancing policies as well as widespread layoffs of frontline museum staff. During the hiatus, virtual exhibits, tours, and programs have been a top priority in continuing to offer services to the public. Today, the “virtual museum” is synonymous with digital objects and online experiences, but that […]

Categories: Alumni, Exhibits, Forums • Tags: Alumni, art, technology, University of San Francisco Museum Studies

Visitor-Centered Museums: Surviving the 21st Century

July 20, 2020 by usfmuseumstudiesblog

Editors’ note:  We congratulate Ginger Daley (MA, 2019) on the publication of her article, Visitor-Centered Museums: Surviving the 21st Century in the Summer 2020 volume of the peer-edited journal Museum Scholar: Theory and Practice.  Ginger was the graduate speaker at the December 2019 University of San Francisco Commencement ceremonies and now lives in Hawaii with her husband, son and daughter.   By Ginger Daley (MA, 2019)  As museums struggle to stay relevant in the world, technology advances at an exponential […]

Categories: Alumni, Forums, Museum Studies • Tags: Alumni, art, professional development, research, social justice, University of San Francisco Museum Studies

Intern-connectivity: SFO Museum

June 22, 2020 by usfmuseumstudiesblog

by Nikki Christensen (MA, 2020) Me: Yeah, I’ve been working for years as a Product Marketer/Brand Director in gaming and I’ve decided to hit Ctrl-Alt-Del on my professional life. The goal is to restart my career in the Museum field. Not me: Wow. So, you’re going to help museums better market themselves? Me: No. No. No. Not me: Huh. So, you’re going to be a curator then? Me: No. I don’t think so? Actually, I’m not quite sure what I […]

Categories: Alumni, internships, Museum Studies • Tags: California history, collections, conservation, internships, professional development, USF Museum Studies

USF Museum Studies Graduate Association wins 2020 Leadership and Engagement Award

May 18, 2020 by usfmuseumstudiesblog

We are pleased and proud to announce that on May 8, 2020, USF’s Office of Student Leadership and Engagement, Division of Student Life announced that the Museum Studies Graduate Association (MSGA) has been selected as the recipient of this year’s Graduate Student Organization of the Year Award.  And on top of that, our very own Professor Nathan Dennis has been honored with the Graduate Student Organization Advisor of the Year Award!   This well-deserved recognition honors MSGA as one of the strongest, most active, […]

Categories: Alumni, Community, Museum Studies • Tags: community, professional development, USF faculty, USF Museum Studies

Intern-connectivity: Textile Conservation at the deYoung Museum

May 4, 2020 by usfmuseumstudiesblog

by Adelle Kincel (MA, 2019) Fashion has become a hugely popular attraction in exhibitions in recent years. Garments are as close to a physical embodiment of the past as we can visualize: it is easy for us to look at a piece of clothing and imagine the living, breathing body that wore it. Our imagination can take root in a garment, and we can begin to understand the historical period in which its wearer lived, their economic status or social […]

Categories: Alumni, internships, Museum Studies • Tags: collections, conservation, internships, textiles, USF Museum Studies

Intern-connectivity: Art Talk at the deYoung Museum

April 6, 2020 by usfmuseumstudiesblog

by Rachel Brickell (MA, 2019) During my third week of working as a Studio Assistant for the de Young’s 2019 summer camp program, I delivered an “art talk” about Jay DeFeo’s “Tuxedo Junction” (pictured below) during the camp’s morning assembly. For the art talk, I needed to choose a work on view in the de Young that aligned with the camp’s weekly theme of “Mess it Up.” During that particular week, teaching artists created projects for campers that allowed them […]

Categories: Alumni, internships, Museum Studies • Tags: art, DeYoung Museum, education, internships, USF Museum Studies

Alumni Connect: Chief Black Coal’s journey back home

February 24, 2020 by usfmuseumstudiesblog

By Jordan Dresser (MA, 2015) Editors’ note:  We are pleased to reprint this recent article by USF Museum Studies alumnus Jordan Dresser.  Jordan currently serves as Collections Manager for the Northern Arapaho Historical Collections in Wind River, Wyoming.  To the see original article:  click here. “It’s the tribe’s now.” Temple Smith had tears in his eyes as he uttered those words to me on a cold January day. It was understandable. Letting go is hard. But letting go is the […]

Categories: Alumni, Community, Museum Studies, Social Justice • Tags: Alumni, collections, law, social justice, USF Museum Studies

Celebrating Our Alumni

February 10, 2020 by Paula Birnbaum

by Paula Birnbaum Editors’ note: A year ago, on February 8, 2019, USF’s Master’s Program in Museum Studies held its first ever reunion to celebrate the momentous occasion of the fifth anniversary of our program. Organized in conjunction with the annual meeting of the California Association of Museums, over 100 alumni of the USF Museum Studies Program convened for a festive gathering at the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco. Today we are reprinting an excerpt from a speech given at […]

Categories: Alumni • Tags: Alumni, USF faculty, USF Museum Studies