Museums, Archives, and Public History
Eleanor Townsley, Nexus director
Sabra Thorner, track chair
Desmond Fitz-Gibbon, track chair
217G Dwight Hall
413-538-3010
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/nexus/public-history-archives-and-museums
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:
Lan Wu, Assistant Professor of History
Sabra Thorner, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Teaching Spring Only
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 | |
| Completion of the UAF application stages 1 and 2 1 | ||
| A substantive internship 2 | ||
| 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 | Or a fifth class with approval of the track chair |
| 2 | At least 240 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
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The sequence of a Nexus is important and part of what makes it unique:
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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.
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COLL-211 is taken after the internship or research project and culminates in the presentation at LEAP Symposium.
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The 300-level course following the internship will allow Nexus students to complete a portfolio or project which demonstrates their curatorial abilities.
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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-316DM | Special Topics in Anthropology: 'Decolonizing Museums' | 4 |
| ANTHR-316MU | Special Topics in Anthropology: 'Anthropology in/of Museums' | 4 |
| Art History | ||
| ARTH-242 | History of Photography: The First Hundred Years | 4 |
| ARTH-271 | Arts of Islam: Book, Mosque, and Palace | 4 |
| ARTH-300CR | Seminar: 'Critical Approaches to Art Historical Study' | 4 |
| ARTH-301MU | Topics in Art History: 'Anthropology in/of Museums' | 4 |
| ARTH-310CA | Seminar in Ancient Art: 'Collecting Global Antiquity' | 4 |
| ARTH-310GA | Seminar in Ancient Art: 'Designing a Global Gallery of Ancient Art' | 4 |
| Computer Science | ||
| COMSC-151HC | Introduction to Computational Problem Solving: 'Humanities Computing' | 4 |
| Dance | ||
| DANCE-267 | Embodied Archives: Reading, Writing, and Researching Dance | 4 |
| English | ||
| 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 |
| First-Year Seminars | ||
| FYSEM-110GP | Gender and Power in the History of Mount Holyoke College | 4 |
| FYSEM-110LG | Slang: Community/Power/Language | 4 |
| FYSEM-110MK | Race in the Marketplace | 4 |
| FYSEM-110PC | Op-ed: Writing on Politics, Culture, and the Arts | 4 |
| FYSEM-110PE | Performing the Self | 4 |
| FYSEM-110PS | Self-Portraiture | 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 Politics of Recognition, Legibility, Visibility and Aesthetics' | 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 and Finance | 4 |
| HIST-283MC | Topics in the Recent History of the United States: 'We Didn't Start the Fire: The United States Since WW II' | 4 |
| Italian | ||
| ITAL-221CT | Introduction to Italian Culture and Literature I: 'Cities in the Italian Renaissance' | 4 |
| Philosophy | ||
| PHIL-350WU | Topics in Philosophy: 'Women and Utopias' | 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 |
| Religion | ||
| RELIG-271 | Arts of Islam: Book, Mosque, and Palace | 4 |
