Museums, Archives, and Public History
Eleanor Townsley, Nexus director
Katie Walker, coordinator
108 Daniel L. Jones Building
413-538-3010
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/academics/find-your-program/museums-archives-and-public-history
Overview and Contact Information
The Nexus in Museums, Archives, and Public History allows students to explore careers which draw specifically on capacities developed in the study of the humanities. These fields require multiple literacies: professionals must be fluent in understanding, analyzing, and communicating about visual artifacts, material culture/objects, historical landscapes, and digital sources. Additionally, students will take four credits of pre- and post-internship courses that facilitate thoughtful engagement with the internship opportunity. While the Nexus certificate requires one internship, a concentration in museums, archives, and public history depends upon internships as a component of professional training, so students undertaking the Nexus should explore a succession of internships at Mount Holyoke and elsewhere in a way that will allow them to develop a significant set of skills.
Faculty
This area of study is administered by the following Nexus track chairs:
Desmond Fitz-Gibbon, Associate Professor of History
Requirements for the Nexus
A minimum of 18 credits:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Three courses above the 100 level chosen from the list of courses approved for this Nexus or selected with approval of the track chair | 12 | |
| A substantive internship 1 | ||
| COLL-211 | Reflecting Back: Connecting Internship and Research to Your Liberal Arts Education | 2 |
| A presentation at LEAP Symposium | ||
| One approved 300-level course from the list of courses approved for this Nexus or selected with approval of the track chair | 4 | |
| Total Credits | 18 | |
- 1
At least 200 work hours and responsibilities that exercise ability to think analytically and creatively, and contribute meaningfully to the organization’s stated mission and complements the student's area of focus
Additional Specifications
-
Nexus students will develop a brief proposal outlining their specific area of focus including a course outline. Students will schedule an advising meeting with a track chair to get approval and complete a Plan of Study form to be returned to the Nexus Program office.
- The sequence of a Nexus is part of what makes it unique:
-
In preparation for the summer internship or research, students complete courses chosen in consultation with the track chair. If seeking funding through LYNK UAF, students will additionally complete orientation and advising, and online training.
- COLL-211 is taken after the internship or research project and culminates in a presentation at LEAP Symposium.
-
Courses Counting toward the Nexus
This is a list of courses with a concentration on collections or archives. Depending upon students’ individual interests, they can select other courses than those listed below in consultation with the Nexus track chair.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropology | ||
| ANTHR-248 | Science, Feminism, and Mount Holyoke | 4 |
| ANTHR-316DM | Special Topics in Anthropology: 'Decolonizing Museums' | 4 |
| ANTHR-316MD | Special Topics in Anthropology: 'Museums, Difficult Dialogues, and Social Repair' | 4 |
| Art History | ||
| ARTH-242 | History of Photography: The First Hundred Years | 4 |
| English | ||
| ENGL-323 | Gender and Class in the Victorian Novel | 4 |
| ENGL-361AR | Advanced Creative Writing Topics: 'Creative Writing from the Archives' | 4 |
| ENGL-361CV | Advanced Creative Writing Topics: 'Canny Valley: Writing from Art and Archives' | 4 |
| ENGL-362 | Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group | 4 |
| Film, Media, Theater | ||
| FMT-102 | Introduction to Film Studies | 4 |
| FMT-104 | Introduction to Media Studies | 4 |
| FMT-230HP | Intermediate Courses in History and Theory: 'Histories of Performance I' | 4 |
| Geology | ||
| GEOL-201 | Rocks and Minerals | 4 |
| Gender Studies | ||
| GNDST-204CP | Women and Gender in the Study of Culture: 'Trap Doors and Glittering Closets: Queer/Trans* of Color Visual Cultures of Resistance' | 4 |
| GNDST-241HP | Women and Gender in Science: 'Feminist Health Politics' | 4 |
| GNDST-333GS | Advanced Seminar: 'Gender and Sexual Minority Health' | 4 |
| GNDST-333SS | Advanced Seminar: 'Gender and Class in the Victorian Novel' | 4 |
| History | ||
| HIST-252 | History of Money | 4 |
| HIST-327 | Mayhem Under Nazi Rule: Who Whom, Why and How? | 4 |
| Jewish Studies | ||
| JWST-350MA | Special Topics in Jewish Studies: 'Mayhem Under Nazi Rule: Who Whom, Why and How?' | 4 |
| Politics | ||
| POLIT-233 | Introduction to Feminist Theory | 4 |
| POLIT-255PA | Gender and Power in Global Contexts: 'The Politics of Abortion in the Americas' | 4 |
| Psychology | ||
| PSYCH-319GS | Seminar in Social Psychology: 'Gender and Sexual Minority Health' | 4 |
