As an undergrad I was a double major, studying studio art
with an emphasis on drawing and anthropology with most of that coursework in
historical archaeology. Through my coursework in these majors I studied and
created material culture, though usually not within history departments. After
college I spent two years as a library assistant in the Children’s Department
at the Palm Harbor Library. In the library I loved working with children in an
informal educational environment. My intellectual interests vary, but all
revolve around storytelling.
I recently finished a summer internship at The Print Center,
a small contemporary art gallery in Center City, where I did research in the
organization’s archives and helped out in preparation of their upcoming
centennial in 2015. Hopefully, my upcoming thesis will involve the creation of
an exhibit containing both historic and contemporary art. This exhibit would
give me the opportunity to practice creating the types of content that tells a
story while also supporting a cohesive and provocative exhibit. Beyond
graduation, I would like to find some way to put both my history skills and
more creative side to use.
One of the reasons I decided to study public history is that
I have always loved museums, particularly ones that use history and make their
visitors think about what it was like to live in other times. My first dream
job was to be a mural painter in the ultra-realistic, atmospheric dioramas at
natural history museums. While museums rarely create those types of exhibits
anymore, I am still attracted to object displays that trigger my imagination.
Part of what I would like to accomplish in this semester is to make my object
come alive in the research paper in the same way that those dioramas came alive
for me when I was younger.
In order to do this, I will have to learn to reconcile the
expectations for good history writing with some of my past training in both art
and archaeology. I have a tendency to look at objects very formally and I am
hoping that this course will enable me to expand the way that I understand and speak
about material culture.
