Friday, November 15, 2013

Museum Studies class provides opportunities

By Samuel Yang, University of Alabama's The Crimson White, November 12, 2013


Behind every displayed T. Rex fossil, Spanish fort and Apollo capsule, there is a team of museum professionals. For six years, William Bomar, interim executive director of University Museums, has taught a museum studies course exposing students to museum management.

“There are about 18,000 museums in the U.S.,” Bomar said. “Museums have more visitors each year than all professional baseball, football and basketball games combined. Museums employ more than 400,000 Americans and are regularly cited as among the most trusted sources of information. Despite their importance to society, many people surprisingly enter museum work seemingly by accident. This is changing rapidly, however, as most professional museum positions now require, or at least prefer, a master’s degree in museum studies and academic preparation in a traditional discipline.”

Jeremy Davis, a doctoral candidate in archaeology, said the knowledge he gained from taking the course makes him more competitive in the already rigorous field of anthropology.

More here.

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