First Post with Amazing Methods Students!

This is my first post of Fall 2019.
This is amazing and I am so excited.

Senior Thesis Poster Session Pix

Congratulations to seniors for presenting their posters this. Thanks to everyone who came to support our students and thank you, especially, to our first and second readers who shared their time and expertise with our museum studies students. Special thanks to Tina for the pix below:) See more info on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RITmuse  Readers: stay tuned to this page for update from our rising seniors!

Sneak Preview - Poster session

Interested in knowing what Museum Studies majors do for their senior projects? 

Come to the College of Liberal Arts Senior Capstone Project Poster Session to see the capstone posters for the Class of 2016! The poster session will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm in the University Gallery 

on the RIT campus (07B, Room 2765). 

All are welcome. The event is free with ample refreshments :) 

Seniors & Recent MUSE grads

Just posted a few listings for jobs in the Rochester area on the RIT Museum Studies Twitter feed. Click here.

Looking to the Spring

Professor Carroll has led the students through their semester of research, inquiry, and methodological approaches. Thank you, Tamar!

In the spring, I will pick up where Tamar left off by ushering in the senior thesis coursework by laying out the timeline, with the goal of having a paper and poster prepared in advance of the College of Liberal Arts Undergraduate Poster session, which will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2016.

I look forward to working with all of our seniors in the spring!

Allow this post, also, to serve as congratulations to Katy who successfully prepared her poster this fall. Her paper, "Applying Marketing Principles to the Museum Experience", is being supervised by Prof. John Ward, Saunders College of Business, and me. Congrats, Katy!

Katy with her poster in the University Gallery, December 15, 2015

Updates from Seniors thus far!

Hi, senior Museum Studies majors!

I wanted to let you know that I am really enjoying the posts that you have made and the comments that you are making on one another's posts. Thank you for sharing your ideas and possible directions for your work.

Thesis work is definitely a measure in patience. And, while you won't be working on this as long as this lovely willow has been around, you will be investing time, resources, and energy in your work. 

Willow Tree from the New York Museum of Transportation, Rush, NY.
September 2015 Photo by author.

I would love to talk with any one of you at any time. Feel free to email me or stop by my office! Looking forward to hearing more!

Brainstorming: Thesis Topic Ideas

                                                         "Still Thinking About It"

           I currently have no idea what I want to do for my Senior Thesis. I am sure of a couple of things, though: I love researching, and I love baseball. My thesis will most likely be a research based paper as opposed to a project based paper. Maybe I could create a topic around the history of baseball in America. Now that I'm thinking about it, I would really like to narrow down that idea into something great that I can work with -- a more unique way of looking at baseball's history in America. Also, I know that there is a History of Baseball class taught here at RIT (that I was, unfortunately, unable to take as it did not fit in my schedule); the professor of that class could be my secondary adviser.

A New Year, New Research

On Thursday, August 27, students in the Research Methods began their course with Prof. Tamar Carroll, MUSE faculty member from RIT's History Department. The purpose of the Methods course is to introduce students to the methodologies of research appropriate for the field of Museum Studies. This course provides a strong foundation for students as they undertake the thesis in the following semester.

For the thesis, students are asked to conduct research and produce a paper. The research paper takes one of two forms, generally. The paper may combine research with an experiential-based project. Or, the paper may be based entirely upon research. In addition to conducting research and writing a supporting paper, students are required to disseminate their work publicly. This is done usually through the college-wide poster session held in May (pictures below in May's post).

As another form of facilitation and dissemination, students are asked to make periodic posts to this blog throughout this semester. Posts will continue in the spring, as well, as they bring their projects to a strong finish.

To facilitate thinking about which type of project each student will pursue, Prof. Tina Lent and I joined the Methods class last week to talk with the students about potential projects that might be interesting to pursue as part of senior thesis work. In addition to one of the dozen or so projects that we introduced—many of which are offered in conjunction with area institutions—students have the option of pursuing a project of their own design, after consulting with MUSE faculty.

To give inspiration for the students, I am attaching a photograph from the university-wide poster session that was held earlier this month. There, two of our class of 2015 seniors presented their thesis work. Be sure to click here for a pic of most of last year's class at graduation!

Best wishes, seniors! 

University-wide Poster Session, August 7, 2015. Photo T. Lent