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Posts from the ‘Jobs’ Category

Dec 4

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Web Resources for Museum Job Seekers

I am again (Spring 2018; Spring 2020) teaching Curatorship and have again checked and updated the job links below. General purpose sites such as Indeed and LinkedIn are places where museum jobs are posted. I have not taken account of the general job posting site phenomena here, but I do note that social media and other technologies have shifted the ways that news of job opening circulate. The social sharing of openings makes clear how important it is to find the most relevant networks in one’s part of the field.

For many years I have maintained a handout in which I list online venues of interest to those searching for museum positions. Every few years I check and update the links, usually in connection with my Curatorship course. I will be teaching that course again next spring and I am working with a number of students preparing for museum job searches. This motivated the latest update, which I am posting online here. Additions and corrections are welcome. Please use the comments section.

Updated most recently on 4/25/18 12/3/19.

 

Oct 7

Director, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Having been asked to do so, I am happy to share news that the Smithsonian Institution is seeking applications for the position of Director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. This is an important and exciting post. See the details below:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Smithsonian Institution, is accepting applications and nominations for a Director. The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage is responsible for planning, developing, and managing programs which have as their major objectives the research, documentation, presentation and conservation of living traditional and grassroots folk cultures of the United States and of other countries. The director is responsible for the administrative direction and management of all Center program activities including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, exhibitions, symposia, scholarly research, cultural heritage policy, educational projects and all media, as well as the participation of other Smithsonian museums and programs in national celebration events and National Mall events. The Director represents, at national and international levels, Smithsonian concerns relating to the understanding of the cultural representation of living heritage, as well as public sector folklore, and policies related to them. The Director will have a proven track record of leadership, management and fundraising skills to run a unique multi-disciplinary cultural organization. The successful applicant must have a degree in a relevant field, management level experience in public programming, and have earned a presence in the scholarly and/or cultural community. The Smithsonian offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience and a comprehensive benefit plan including a lucrative, fully vested retirement program with TIAA- CREF. For detailed information on the position, qualifications and application instructions, go to http://www.sihr.si.edu/jobs.cfm and scroll to position announcement EX-13-01. We are only accepting online applications for this position. For questions or additional information, contact Tom Lawrence, 202-633-6319 or lawrencet@si.edu. The Smithsonian Institution is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Dec 21

Wanted: Anthropology Minded Museum Directors

There are a number of museum directorships of relevance to anthropology and folklore studies open right now. The University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University and the Museum of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University are among them.  Most relevant to me, because the museum is so central to my graduate teaching and my collections research, is the Mathers Museum of World Cultures at Indiana University. I especially hope that a large group of strong candidates apply for the Mathers Museum position. It will be exciting to see where each of these institutions head when they welcome their new leaders.

Oct 1

Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Openning: Curator of Archaeology

Job Opening: University of Oklahoma – Assistant/Associate Curator of Archaeology AND Assistant/Associate Professor of Archaeology.

Sep 20

Recovering Voices Program Manager

Recovering Voices Program Manager (IS-301-12, $74,872)
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

We are seeking a program manager for Recovering Voices, an interdisciplinary Smithsonian program that is working with communities to document and sustain endangered languages and knowledge. Read more

Apr 29

Job Openning: Executive Director of the Institute of Texas Cultures

Did everyone notice that the position of Executive Director of the Institute of Texas Cultures is open? This is a major position for someone with the right public folklore and/or museum work background. See: http://chronicle.com/jobs/0000677703-01/

Apr 27

New Jobs: Carrie Hertz Edition

I am thrilled to have more happy job news to report. Carrie Hertz has just been appointed to the post of Curator of Folk Arts at the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University. This is a great curatorial position for a great museums and material culture scholar in folklore studies and anthropology. Carrie is also a doctoral candidate in folklore studies (major field) and anthropology (minor field) at Indiana University.  In her research, her special emphasis is on dress and adornment in the United States.  For her dissertation, she is completing conducting an ethnographic study of wedding dresses in the Midwest. She has held a range of museum posts previously and also served with me as editorial assistant for Museum Anthropology and Museum Anthropology Review. The Castellani Art Museum has excellent collections and a remarkable track record of research and exhibition work on folk and vernacular arts. Congratulations to both Carrie and the museum!

Apr 23

New Jobs: Michael Jordan Edition

In still more great job news, friend and collaborator Michael Jordan (a Ph.D. student in anthropology at University Oklahoma) has just accepted a tenure track job in anthropology at Texas Tech University.  Mike is a native Texan and he collaborates in his research with the Kiowa people. The Kiowa live today in not-too-distant Southwestern Oklahoma and Texas Tech is in their ancestral homeland, thus from the point of view of family life, research work and easy and sensible travel/geography, this is a perfect fit.  It looks like an ideal job in many other ways.  Mike is a hardworking scholar and I am so happy for him and his family. Congratulations to Mike and to all of this season’s other job getters and job changers.

Mar 22

Collection Manager for Nation American Languages Collection (SNOMNH)

From Mary S. Linn, Curator of Native American Languages, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

Hello Friends and Colleagues,

I am writing you to announce the that we are taking applications for the position of Collection Manager (CM) for the Nation American Languages collection at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. This is one of only a few digital and physical archives of endangered languages in a museum setting in the US. We are partnering with many different Oklahoma and regional tribes and tribal people as the collection grows, and we are involved in collaborative efforts to make the collection significant to revitalization work. The CM is directly responsible for the processing, care (of both digital and analog collections), and accessibility issues. In addition, we sponsor programming in language documentation, revitalization, and conservation, and the CM makes the collection available and user-friendly to patrons, and makes it up-to-date as technology and user-needs change. A proactive CM will also help shape the future growth areas of the department. So, this position is unique and exciting, and a great opportunity for someone starting their career.

I encourage you to pass this information on to students and others you know with a BA or MA degree and experience in language media.

Here are the instructions to get to the application:

http://hr.ou.edu//

left Quick Links: Job Postings

left: Search Listings

Job Listing Number: 11275 (this is enough to get you the full listing and application)

Title: Curator/Archivist I
For more information on the Sam Noble Museum, please go to : http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/
For a brief introduction to the NAL Collections, please go to: http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/collections-research/nal.htm
You can search our catalog at: http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/db2/nal/index.php

Thank you all,
Mary
Mary S. Linn
Associate Curator, Native American Languages
Associate Professor, Anthropology
Adjunct Associate Professor, Native American Studies

Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
University of Oklahoma
2401 Chautauqua Avenue
Norman, OK 73072
405-325-7588 (voice) 405-325-7699 (fax)

Feb 18

New Jobs: Terri Jordan Edition

In more great job news from Oklahoma, Terri Jordan, an MA graduate of the Indiana University Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology who has been working as collections manager in the Native American Languages Division of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (at the University of Oklahoma), has just taken a new job as Curator of the Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive, also at the University of Oklahoma.  During her time at IU, Terri pursued the double MA/MLS degree with a focus on archives, museum work and public folklore. I had the unusual honor of working with Terri both at the University of Oklahoma, where she was an undergraduate student and at IU at the final phase of her MA work. Congratulations go to Terri on the occasion of this promotion to a position of greater responsibility. Curating an archive of political advertisements!  What a great opportunity for a folklorist (and archivist, of course).

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