A Little About Me!

Hello World! 

My name is Alice! I am a 5th year Computer Science and Museum Studies double major with a recently declared (woah) cluster in cybersecurity! I started my MUSE journey as an immersion during my 1st year at RIT, and fell so in love with it that I decided I HAD to major in it, and with Dr.Decker's help, I was soon enrolled.

Hello There!

 Hi y'all! I am Nic Feldman, a 3rd year Museum Studies Major with a Public Policy Immersion, and this is my last year here at RIT!

I'm writing this at the very beginning of my thesis journey, and by very beginning I mean I have just truly settled on my topic and have begun to research and lay out a plan of attack. My topic idea came from my first semester of being a MUSE student, when I assisted in RIT Archives in the curation and installation of Innovative Investments: 30 Years of Tom Golisano at RIT. During that process, I "came up" with an idea I coined "The Magpie Effect," where I reasoned that the inclusion of a shiny/reflective object, in this case a  brass plaque, would serve as a great way to catch peoples eyes as they walk by the exhibit. Unfortunately, the plaque wasn't included, and my theory went untested but the idea stuck with me, and I was able to somewhat develop it further over this past year. Through my continuing work at the RIT Archives and at my summer co-op at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I realized there was a social aspect to The Magpie Effect--- people tend to be more interested in an exhibit where they recognize the names and content within in a much more noticeable way.

I am having my thesis focus on the Magpie Effect, I find it a very intriguing idea, especially as I have a love for exhibits and exhibit design, but I'm not focusing on all the different aspects that I could potentially study, I am just focusing on the social aspect. Specifically, how visitor familiarity with exhibit content draws them in and connects them to the exhibit. 

Currently, I am working on research-- finding sources and figuring out what data has already been collected and how, so that when I go and do a visitor study, I have something to compare to, and something I can use as a reference to better understand my data.

Hopefully, I'll have more for y'all in a couple weeks! For now: my cat.

Pete, an orange cat, lying on a grey couch half asleep.

~~

Nic Feldman

First Post

Hello everyone,

My name is Rebecca Jarrett, and I'm a fourth-year student. This is my second semester in the Museum Studies program. It's nerve-wracking to start the thesis process, but I am excited to see where it leads me. I love public history and am primarily interested in curation, education, and visitor studies. Conservation is also intriguing, but my hands are definitely not steady enough for that! I want to spread historical knowledge to as many people as possible because it teaches us so much about our world and is applicable to every area of life. In my free time, I like to write and watch video essays on YouTube.

I got my first experience in museum work this summer when I started volunteering at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. I worked in the Astronomy Education department, which runs an on-site observatory, as well as indoor hands-on activities. I worked with solar telescopes outside, and then inside with Discovery Stations about meteorites, spectroscopy (the study of the light spectrum from celestial bodies), and a black hole model. The position is year-long, so I will be returning there to volunteer during holidays. Below is a picture of the Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory, which is the main base for observatory volunteers if the sky is clear.

Image source: Observatory website

Introduction: Elizabeth Gwilt

Hi everyone, my name is Elizabeth Gwilt and I’m a fourth year in the Museum Studies program. When I first transferred into the program, I didn’t have a clue about which specific aspects of museum work appealed to me. But now, after taking more museum classes and learning from my own experience, I can say that I’d like to focus on the field of Museum Education. Examining how people learn in museum settings is very interesting to me. I’d love to learn more about methods for assessing learning, and how to design programming that meets visitors’ needs.

My first internship experience took place at the Henry B. Plant Museum in Tampa, Florida. Although I had a great experience, the small museum lacked an education department, so I hope to find another internship that can support my interest in education. In the meantime, I think my thesis will be related to education somehow.

Susana's Intro

Hi everyone! My name is Susana Flores and originally from Bay Area, California. I'm majoring in Museum Studies with an immersion in Deaf Studies. My interests always been in Art, History and Science. I enjoy any arts in general but do have some interests in Black/ White photography, Baroque Painting arts and Graffiti arts.

I recently completed my internship at American School of the Deaf (ASD) in Hartford, Connecticut. My assigned project was to preserve, catalog and label the books from late 1700's - Early 1800's in their Archive library room and I also worked on transcription projects with the Connecticut Digital Archive under University of Connecticut. My experience working as intern at Hartford, CT was very enriching and i'm already looking forward to work with ASD again next year for their upcoming exhibition for thier 200th anniversary

Statue of Thomas E. Gallaudet with 

Alice Cogswell in front of ASD admission office.