Redoing museums so people will enjoy them

After reading the articles, it is interesting to see what is being done in order to bring people in. I rather enjoy the experience of being entertained as well as being informed about some topic which interests me. It is also interesting to see how much work museums put into staying relevant, even when they are not seen to be so. This leads into museums trying to put working in anthropology along with all of the other work which goes into a museum. This seems like a lot of work to be done in order to take care of all of these various tasks. I would also say that all of the work being performed within the museum is necessary because, if there were no museums, people would not know anything about themselves or about the world around them. Museums are still important in society because they give a view of what life has been in the past and in the future. There needs to be exhibits which give the right amount of information for our ADD-riddled society to learn about things. Although, as I have said before, I prefer to have an equal number of interactive exhibits as well as text panels and objects to admire. Anthropology will never go away, it will just evolve and change like the rest of the social sciences and museums as they fit the current situation in which we live in. As well, there will always be need for scholarship, since where else will the new exhibits come from, unless there are new things to bring in the patrons. Curators need to multi-task in order to find the time to work on their personal research. There needs to be good time management set up in order to accomplish this.

On 10/15 we listened to Susan Irwin-Savage talk about her experiences about working with NAGPRA. She talked about the consultations and the repatriations she was able to watch and to participate in. It was interesting to learn about the work which was being done with Colorado Historical Society in order to make sure that all cultural objects are going back to the Native American tribes. It was also interesting to learn about the NAGPRA committees which went on and what they did to make sure that the objects went back to the Native American tribes. I was amazed at the level of fines which could be put on museums if they do not comply with NAGPRA.
I liked learning about Kaitlyn's internship at the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe. I was impressed with what she said she was able to learn about and do. I would not think that the security people would be interesting people to talk to. Over all, I believe this was a good experience, learning it is important to network with lots of different people.

On 10/16 we visited the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to talk to Chip who is a curator there. We listened to his background which is interesting in going from being an archaeologist to a curator through taking the time to work with Native American Tribes and their concerns. This is seen to be very important to me in that we need to listen to the Native Americans because they are part of the American culture. I did not realize that it takes a PH.D to be a curator in a museum, since the jobs are really competitive. It is good to know that in jobs, it is those people who have experience in the field, published, and have experience grant writing. It was also intriguing to see what goes on a day-to-day basis within the curatorial field. 5% admin, 5% serve on committees, 30%collection, 30% outreach and 30% research. As well, it is interesting to learn about all of the different programs that the museum performs for the community.