Museum Studies?

I struggle to type the typical, "Hello, this is who I am..." opening to blog posts but here I go. I am Anna Vernacchio, a 4th year museum studies major at the Rochester Institute of Technology. I had never really thought about college until the start of my junior year of high school. I was interested in art and history so I began looking for potential degree paths that would apply my interests to a practical job. I stumbled upon the museum studies program at RIT, visited once and fell in love. I saw so much opportunity if I just started here.

After four years, I don't think I could see myself anywhere else in any other degree program. Since my first semester at RIT, I have worked in the various institutions related to museum studies on campus: as a circulation and resource assistant at the Wallace Library, a student employee at RIT's institutional archive, and a student employee, now student manager, of the newly renamed City Art Space (or Gallery R). This constant application of coursework along with hand-on curriculum provided me with a level of experience I would not have achieved at another institution.The museum studies program has fostered my love of history, social movements, and art, providing me with a practical application of my interests.

This summer I worked at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. The breath of the Newseum's newspaper collection provided me with a special look in to modern social activism, from the birth of the suffrage movement to the growth of the civil rights and gay rights movements. I found myself immersed in everything from iconic Life magazine covers to alternative press from various social movements, further sparking my interest in the sociopolitical climate of contemporary culture and how it has been impacted by our choices throughout history. I hope to carry some of the inspiration I received from cataloging historical news publications in to my development of my own thesis.

This semester I have also been tasked to develop the employee handbook for the new staff of the City Art Space and assist in hiring a new staff for the new space. I will also will be supporting the RIT archives in its celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Henrietta campus.

[Jet magazine, December 22, 1955, featured story about the start of the Montgomery bus boycott.]