MA in Museum Studies | Highlight on Faculty

Program Chair
Robert Kargon is the Willis K. Shepard Professor of the history of science at The Johns Hopkins University, chair of the master of arts in communication in contemporary society and of the master of arts in museum studies. Dr. Kargon is especially interested in the complex role of science in modern societies, in the evolution of method in physical science, in scientific institutions as mediators between society and discipline, and in applying digital technologies to learning. He has been a consultant to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., and has taught seminars for public administrators and journalists, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. He also organized a NATO workshop on science and development, lectured on historical perspectives on policy issues, served on the scientific council of the Maryland Science Center, Baltimore, and was director of the Baltimore Public Works Museum, where a special concern is outreach to the public. His books include The Rise of Robert Millikan: Portrait of a Life in American Science (1982); Science in Victorian Manchester: Enterprise and Expertise (1977); Atomism in England from Hariot to Newton (1966); Kelvin’s Baltimore Lectures and Modern Theoretical Physics (ed. with Peter Achinstein, 1987); and The Maturing of American Science (ed., 1974. Dr. Kargon trained in physics at Duke University and Yale University, and in history at Cornell University.
Program Director
Phyllis Hecht is Director of the Johns Hopkins University Master of Arts in Museum Studies program. She also serves as Chair of the Committee on Museum Professional Training (COMPT) of the American Association of Museums (AAM). Previously, she was on the board of AAM's Media and Technology committee and also served on the advisory board of the Horizon Report: Museum Edition (2008, 2010). Ms. Hecht has more than 25 years of museum work experience. Prior to coming to The Johns Hopkins University, she was manager and art director of the website at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Under her direction, the site won many prestigious awards, including a Federal Design Achievement Award and a MUSE Award from the American Association of Museums. Ms. Hecht has published papers and participated in international panels on topics ranging from developing the Web skills of K-12 teachers and using new technologies for evaluating websites to developing online training for emerging museum professionals. She co-edited and contributed to The Digital Museum: A Think Guide (2007), an anthology on museums and technology. Previously, she was project manager and designer of print publications at the National Gallery of Art. Ms. Hecht received a B.S. in journalism and a B.A. in art history from the University of Maryland and an M.A. in museum education from George Washington University.
Faculty Members
William Appleton is Director of Public Programs and Education at the Saint Louis Art Museum. As head of the Museum's education division, he has lead the implementation of numerous award-winning school, community, adult, and new technology initiatives. Prior to joining the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2002, he held a similar position as Director of Public Programs and Education at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York. In addition to his museum work, he has over 15 years of classroom experience teaching a broad range of subjects including art history, art education, film studies, Latin, and Greek. Mr. Appleton is an adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis where he teaches art education using the museum as a resource. He is active in the national arts community serving on the Education Committee Board of the American Association of Museums as well as a number of visual and performing arts boards in St. Louis and New York. In 2012, he will co-chair programming for the Association of Midwest Museums Annual Conference in Indianapolis. Mr. Appleton received his master's in Classics from Brown University.
Stephanie Brown is the executive director of the Chevy Chase Historical Society in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Previously, she served as Associate Curator for American Material Culture and Historian at Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens in Washington, D.C. At the Historical Society, she curates the collection of photographs, maps, personal papers, and local records; works with community leaders to promote the Society through joint projects and programming; and manages daily operations. At Hillwood, she wrote and lectured on the museum’s founder, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and Hillwood as a historic site, in addition to curating the museum’s collection of mid-twentieth century material culture objects. Dr. Brown has a B.A. in History from Williams College and a Ph.D. in European History from Stanford University.
Allegra Burnette is the Creative Director of Digital Media at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, overseeing the design and production for the museum's website, MoMA.org, as well as mobile devices, interpretive kiosks and digital displays. Online projects include two complete site redesigns, creating the online collection and audience-specific sites for teachers, teens, and kids, overseeing an ongoing series of award-winning exhibition sites, and extending the reach of MoMA’s content through iTunes U, YouTube, mobile, and elsewhere. Offline projects include lobby display screens and the launch of MoMA.guide, a series of interactive kiosks. Prior to working at MoMA, Ms. Burnette created and ran a media department at the renowned museum exhibition design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates. She has an MFA in museum exhibition planning and design from the University of the Arts, where she has also taught graduate courses in museum media.
Sarah Chicone is Program Coordinator and Full-time Faculty member in the Johns Hopkins University Museum Studies program. She has over ten years of professional exhibition design experience, and has been lead curator, developer, and designer for contemporary art, history, anthropology, and natural history exhibitions. She has a breadth of experience in large and small projects, and has worked in a variety of capacities that range from Director of Exhibits for a small natural history museum to a content developer/ coordinator for an exhibition design company. Her academic and professional interests include material culture studies, cultural resource management, informal education, cultural heritage, exhibition design, and public archaeology. Dr. Chicone holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology (Archaeology) from Binghamton University, an M.A. in Anthropology (Archaeology) and a graduate certificate in Museum Management from the University of South Carolina, and a B.A. from Lake Forest College. Dr. Chicone has taught at Binghamton University and Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Susan Chun consults with cultural heritage organizations on information management and intellectual property strategy and policy issues. Her clients include museums, libraries, universities, museum and academic consortia, and funders. She is currently a resident scholar, museum programs, at the New Media Consortium. Until 2007, Ms. Chun was general manager for collections information planning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where she was responsible for institutional strategy and for developing and managing projects involving intellectual property, asset management and archiving, digital imaging and licensing, publishing, and standards. Prior to that, she was involved in all aspects of the Met’s publishing program as a member of the museum’s editorial department. She writes and lectures regularly on copyright, publishing, open content initiatives, and social software.
Kate Collen is the collections database administrator at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and is Chair Emeritus of the Collections Information Management Committee at the Smithsonian Institution. She maintains information about the museum’s collections by customizing, standardizing and migrating data for internal use and on the web. She wrote a major digitization grant for the Postal Museum and manages collections and cataloging projects. Ms. Collen has worked in museums small and large. She was the collections assistant at Rokeby Museum historic house in Ferrisburgh, VT, worked in the registration departments of the Mission Houses Museum in Honolulu, HI, and at the Wolfsonian-FIU Museum, Miami Beach, FL, and was curator of photographs at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Honolulu, HI. She completed a photography research fellowship at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, TX and received her M.A. in Museum Studies from The George Washington University and a B.A. in Art History and Anthropology from the University of Vermont.
Laura Coyle is an independent curator, art historian, and proprietor of Curator-at-Large, LLC, a company that provides curatorial services to art museums and organizations. She has many years of experience at the National Gallery of Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, both in Washington, D.C. At the Corcoran she was curator of European art and organized several major exhibitions, including Joan of Arc (2006), Marvels of Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics (2004), The Shape of Color: Joan Miró’s Painted Sculpture (2002), and Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (2001). Dr. Coyle holds an M.A. in the history of art from Williams College and a Ph.D. in the history of art from Princeton University.
William Crow is a museum educator and head of school and teacher programs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He recently co-authored the American Association of Museums publication Unbound by Place or Time: Museums and Online Learning with Dr. Herminia Din and has spoken nationally and internationally on the topic of museum education and media. Before his appointment as museum educator, Mr. Crow served as a lecturer for student, family, and teacher programs at the Metropolitan, and also was a high school teacher at the Delbarton School (New Jersey) where he taught art history and studio art. He has taught for ten years as assistant professor of graduate studies in the M.A. Program in Media Studies at The New School, specializing in courses that examine the role of media in culture. As a practicing visual artist, he has exhibited his work internationally, including a solo exhibition at White Columns in New York City and a long-term residency for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. He holds a B.A. in romance languages and art from Wake Forest University (NC) an M.F.A. in painting from The City University of New York/Hunter College, an M.S.Ed. in museum education leadership from Bank Street College, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in cognitive studies and intelligent technologies at Columbia University.
Herminia Wei-Hsin Din is an assistant professor of art education at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Previously she was the Web producer at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and education technologist at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. In the past few years, she has worked with the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks on the LearnAlaska project, an educational tool to sort, display, and share digital museum objects and historical images from the Alaska Digital Archives. In 2005 she facilitated a docent-training program using Internet2 videoconferencing for a traveling exhibit in Alaska, Light Motifs: American Impressionist Paintings from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She serves as program chair for the board of the media and technology committee of AAM, and was also the MUSE Awards chair for two years. She recently co-edited and contributed to The Digital Museum: A Think Guide (2007). She holds a doctorate in art education from Ohio State University.
Robin Dowden is director of new media initiatives and member of the audience engagement and communications team at the Walker Art Center. Together with her department, she is responsible for developing the Center’s use of interactive and emerging technologies including multimedia computer applications (Dialog table), telephony-based audio-information resources (Art on Call), the Walker’s website, and projects to create digital resources. Robin directs Internet-based special projects including ArtsConnectEd, a joint initiative of the Walker and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and mnartists.org, an online resource for Minnesota artists developed by the Walker and the McKnight Foundation. Prior to joining the Walker, Dowden was the collections systems and Web site manager at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Ms. Dowden did graduate work in art history at the University of California, Davis, and holds a B.A. in art history from Arizona State University.
John Durel is a consultant to museums and cultural organizations nationwide, helping leaders with executive coaching, strategic planning, business planning, and board and staff development. He also serves as the Coordinator of the Seminar for Historical Administration, a leadership development program for emerging leaders in history organizations. Dr. Durel is especially interested in the practice of leadership in museums, and each year works closely with more than thirty museum directors as they strive to advance their organizations. His recent published works include Building a Sustainable Nonprofit Organization, (American Association of Museums, 2010), “Entrepreneurship in Historical Organizations,“ (History News, 2009,) “Curiosity and Discipline: Reflections on the Words of Jim Collins, (Hand to Hand, 2008,) and “A Golden Age for Historic Properties,” written with Anita N. Durel, CFRE (History News, 2007.) He received a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Notre Dame, and a Ph.D. in American History from the University of New Hampshire.
Elizabeth Eder is assistant chair, National Education Partnerships at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C., where she develops strategic partnerships and educational products using new media to integrate the visual arts into the core curriculum nationwide. Prior to her appointment in 2006, she taught social foundations of education at the University of Maryland and Millersville University (Pa). She has worked as director of professional education programs at the American Association of Museums; head of school and teacher programs at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; and lecturer at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. She has written two books and numerous articles on historical topics, and recently served on the editorial board of the Journal of Museum Education. She has also lectured widely. Dr. Eder has a B.A. in art and art history from American University, an M.A.T. in museum education from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in history of education from University of Maryland. She also has a certificate in teaching to standards with new technology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Bruce Falk joined the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., as a contracting officer in 2006 after working for nearly a dozen years in contracting at the Smithsonian Institution. His expertise extends from intellectual property to information technology. In 1997 he drafted the Smithsonian Institution’s first major online exhibit agreement and in 2001 organized a multimedia vendor fair to educate museum professionals in the burgeoning use of the Internet as a natural extension of outreach. In the spring of 2007, he served as videography jury chair for the American Association of Museums annual MUSE Awards. A member of the DC Bar and active with the DC Bar arts, entertainment, music, and sports law section, Mr. Falk has previously served as section financial officer, section chair, program chair, and co-chair of the music and entertainment subcommittee. He earned his B.A. from Northwestern University and his law degree from George Washington University Law School.
Dana Greil is the Chief of Digital Outreach and Engagement at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Ms. Allen-Greil serves as managing editor of the popular "O Say Can You See?" blog and has lead award-winning online campaigns including the Smithsonian's first YouTube contest (a national anthem singing competition) and Race to the Museum (a public vote to select historic automobiles for display). Ms. Allen-Greil serves on the Board of Directors for the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) and is an adjunct professor at The George Washington University where she teaches a graduate survey course on museums and technology. She has authored chapters for the book, Twitter for Museums: Strategies and Tactics for Success, as well as papers on social media published in Museums and the Web Proceedings. In addition to her work on behalf of museums, Ms. Allen-Greil also volunteers as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for Education Fights AIDS International. Prior to her current role at the Smithsonian, Ms. Allen-Greil coordinated online publishing for the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit leader in health policy and communications. Ms. Allen-Greil holds an MA in Museum Studies from The George Washington University and a BA in English and Women Studies from St. Mary's College of Maryland.
Redell Hearn is an independent museum professional with close to twenty years of experience in the field, including eight years of teaching museum studies to graduate students. Hearn’s museum career began as a student in the graduate program in Museum Studies at Syracuse University. During the summer following her first year of study, she curated an exhibition for the Smithsonian Institution entitled Cartoons, Caricatures and Comics. As museum curator for the California African American Museum (CAAM), she was responsible for the traveling exhibition Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks, which originated at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC. She left CAAM to become the founding director of the Master of Arts in Museum Studies Program for Southern University at New Orleans, the first and only museum studies program in the State of Louisiana. Ms. Hearn earned a Master of Arts degree in museum studies and a Master of Philosophy from Syracuse University, and is continuing research on her dissertation, From Practice to Theory: Making Museology Matter in Educating Museum Administrators, in the Humanities Doctoral Program at Syracuse University.
Carlos Hernandez is a museum consultant in areas of planning, collections management, and exhibitions for public and private institutions and has been working in museum-related activities for over fifteen years. Previously, he worked as collections manager for the Museum of the History of Ponce, overseeing all cultural property and the collection, before serving as director of the museum. Prior to this, he was director of the eLearning program and assistant faculty in the Master of Arts in Museums Studies at Southern University in New Orleans. While in New Orleans, he volunteered for the Ogden Museum of Art and The National World War II Museum. Mr. Hernández holds an MA in Museum Studies from Syracuse University and is a PhD candidate in Puerto Rican history at the Universidad de Puerto Rico.
Marissa Hoechstetter is a development associate with the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art where she serves as a liaison to the Board of Trustees. She organizes an annual fundraising gala and other special events, and supports general fundraising and public relations initiatives. She has served as a lead fundraiser and steward for exhibitions with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. There, she also managed the Smithsonian Community Grant program, which awards grants to museums for public programs. Ms. Hoechstetter has consulted for the Phillips Collection, worked in the Chairman’s Office of the National Endowment for the Arts, and taught high school art classes. She has an MA in Arts Management from American University and a BS in Studio Art from Skidmore College.
Brian Hogarth is an independent art educator and arts consultant with more than 24 years of experience in art and history museum education in the United States and Canada. Most recently he was director of education at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and for ten years was director of education at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. He has served in similar capacities at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Glenbow in Calgary, Alberta, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, where he was manager of public programs. He also worked in performing arts management at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Mr. Hogarth has written numerous teacher guides, orientation videos, conducted many docent training sessions, and arranged hundreds of public programs for seniors, young adults, and families. He is a leader in the development of community advisory groups for gallery, program, and exhibition planning, as well as the use of video conferencing for distance learning. Mr. Hogarth is currently enrolled in art history graduate studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and holds a B.A. in fine arts and theatre from the University of Guelph.
Nik Honeysett is head of administration for the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Prior to his current role, he managed the Getty's Web Group, and was responsible for all aspects of its website and intranets. Before joining the Getty in 2000, Mr. Honeysett was the head of production at Cognitive Applications, Ltd., a United Kingdom consultancy firm working exclusively with museums and galleries in Europe and the U.S. He currently chairs the American Association of Museums (AAM) Media and Technology Standing Professional Committee and sits on a number of other AAM committees, including the Standing Professional Committee Council and the National Program Committee for AAM 2008. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in microprocessors.
Deborah Howes is Director of Digital Learning at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Previously she was Assistant Director and full-time faculty member in the Johns Hopkins University Museum Studies program. She has over 25 years of museum experience, and prior to coming to Johns Hopkins, she worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where as the Museum Educator in charge of Educational Media, she led an interdisciplinary 25-member team of educators, producers and technicians to create award-winning educational materials in print, video and web formats for both inside and outside museum use. This same team managed the creation and execution of the technical aspects of the Met's new Uris Center for Education: a 20,000 sq. foot facility including classrooms, meeting spaces and a library. Ms. Howes has lectured about museums, technology, art, and education at the Bank Street School of Education, Museum Leadership Program, and at New York University, Steinhardt School, Arts Administration program. She has a master's degree (A.M.) in museum education from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree in art history with honors from Wellesley College.
Richard Kissel is a vertebrate paleontologist and the Director of Teacher Programs at the Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth. Dr. Kissel's interest in the intersection of scientific research and both formal and informal education has resulted in his recent pursuits. He has authored popular articles and children’s books on paleontology and the nature of science, and he was a featured scientist on NOVA’s/ scienceNOW/. From 2003-2008, Dr. Kissel worked at The Field Museum as an educator, developer, and the primary scientific advisor for /Evolving Planet/, the Museum’s 27,000-square-foot exhibition on the history of life on Earth. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, an M.S. in Geosciences, and a B.S. in Geology. He has taught at Cornell University and Ithaca College.
Judith Landau is the internship coordinator and lecturer for the JHU Museum Studies program. Ms. Landau has over 25 years of museum and teaching experience. She has conducted staff and docent development workshops for over 40 museums, served as a facilitator for strategic planning in museums, developed curricula for museums and schools, trained classroom teachers, worked on various museum education committees and was an outreach specialist at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Previously, she served as Assistant Director and faculty member of the graduate program in Museum Education at the George Washington University. Ms. Landau has an M.A.T. in museum education from the George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in music education from Queens College, City University of New York.
Janet Landay is an independent museum professional with over twenty-five years of experience in major American art museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her work includes international curatorial projects, publications, complex project management, innovative educational programs, and community partnerships. Between 2009 and 2011, she was the Executive Director of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), overseeing an important period of transition for the organization. During her tenure, AAMD made great strides in changing from a traditional membership association into a strong leadership organization for the art museum field. Landay has lectured and published extensively about art, including a comprehensive guide to the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She has also taught in the Museum Education program at the Bank Street College of Education. Ms. Landay holds a B.A. in Civilizational Studies from the University of Chicago, and an M.A. in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.
Susan Larsen has more than 20 years of publishing experience, the bulk of which has been for museums. Since 2001 she has been director of publications at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and her editorial experience includes work on traditional as well as Web-based museum exhibition catalogues, scholarly journals, reference works, popular books, technical reports, children’s guides, and other ephemera. She has been an editor at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, also in Washington, and has done freelance work for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Walters Art Gallery, and Art Services International, among other clients. She was on the editorial staff of the Washington Review of the Arts from 1987 until 2001 and currently serves on an advisory board for Wayne State University Press. She received a B.A. in art history from Georgetown University and an M.A., also in art history, from the University of Pittsburgh.
Elise LeCompte is currently registrar for the Anthropology Division of the Florida Museum of Natural History, as well as assistant department chair for the Museum’s Natural History Department and coordinator of health and safety for the Museum. She has over 24 years experience in the museum field, and has served as collections manager, exhibit registrar, and conservation technician for various projects at the Florida Museum of Natural History and at other museums in Florida. In addition, she performs consultant and contracted work involving collections management and curation, condition surveys, preparation and mounting of artifacts for exhibit, exhibit design, and artifact treatment for museums, historical societies, and private institutions throughout the southeast. Ms. LeCompte has organized and taught workshops and presented papers at state, regional, and national conferences and seminars on collections management, curation, artifact conservation, and emergency preparedness and disaster planning. She has written articles and reports on collections management, standards for computer collections databases, artifact conservation, and archaeological exhibits and field projects. Ms. LeCompte teaches the course Museum Ethics for the Museum Studies Program at the University of Florida, and serves as lecturer for courses in collections management and art and historic preservation law. She holds an M.A. in archaeology and chemistry from the University of Florida and a B.A. in anthropology from the Johns Hopkins University.
Miriam Levin teaches cultural history and history of technology at Case Western Reserve University. Her work focuses on urban environments, international expositions, museums, and institutions of higher education as agents of international and global change. She began her academic career as a graduate student in the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art and later developed museum-based programs in the humanities at the Massachusetts Foundation for Humanities. Since then she has published Defining Women’s Scientific Enterprise, a 2005 Pulitzer Prize nominee; When the Eiffel Tower Was New (1989); and Republican Art and Ideology in Late 19th-century France (1986). She has held posts as visiting professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences et Sociales, Paris; the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; visiting fellow at MIT; Centre des Recherches en Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques, Paris; and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. She currently heads a six-person research team, funded by the National Science Foundation, writing Inventing an International Culture of Change in Six Cities (1870–1930). She also lectures and publishes widely on museums, their history, and role in global development. Dr. Levin has an M.A. in art history from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Massachusetts.
John Lydecker is a museum professional, educator, and art historian with thirty-five years of frontline leadership experience in art museums. As the Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose associate director for education at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he sustained excellence in museum teaching at all levels, built a team of award-winning publication and media professionals, pioneered uses of new technology in support of the museum’s mission, and led the reconstruction of the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education. He served previously as executive director of museum education at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was also adjunct professor in the School of the Art Institute, and was curator in charge of public programs at the National Gallery of Art. He holds a B.A. in history from Rice University, an M.A. in art history from Cornell, and a Ph.D. in art history from The Johns Hopkins University. His academic specialization is the Italian Renaissance, while his professional work has taken him into all areas of the history of art and museum practice.
Matthew MacArthur is director of the new media program at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH). His department administers the museum’s award-winning Web site and oversees a range of digital media projects, including handhelds, podcasting, and e-mail communication. At the Smithsonian, he has worked on a variety of initiatives that employ technology in the teaching of history and material culture. A number of these groundbreaking projects, including Revealing Things and HistoryWired, have experimented with innovative interface techniques. During his tenure, NMAH sites have won recognition from such organizations as the American Association of Museums and New York Festivals, as well as publications such as HOW, Communication Arts, and I.D. magazines. He holds a B.A. in American studies from the University of Oregon and an M.A. in history from the Claremont Graduate School, where he focused on history and new media.
Mary McGinnis is the Museum Educator overseeing Access and Community Programs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. She and her colleagues are recognized internationally for their pioneering programs for visitors with disabilities. In 2011 she received the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Award for Excellence in Accessibility Leadership and the American Council of the Blind Achievement Award in Audio Description for Museums. Her publications include Art and the Alphabet: A Tactile Experience (with Ileana Sanchez), an innovative children's book combining braille, tactile pictures, and images of works of art from the Metropolitan Museum; "Enabling Education: Including People with Disabilities in Art Museum Programming" in From Periphery to Center: Art Museum Education in the 21st Century, ed. Pat Villenueve, National Art Education Association, 2007; and "Developing Museum Programs for People with Autism" in Understanding Students with Autism through Art, ed. Beverly Levett Gerber and Julia Kellman, National Art Education Association, 2010. In addition to MA degrees in History of Art (NYU) and Museum Studies (University of Leicester), she is pursuing doctoral research in Cognitive Psychology relating to visual impairment and mental imagery at Teachers' College, Columbia University.
Marla Misunas is the collections information manager at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she has worked in various roles in registration and information management since 1992. Past president of the Museum Computer Network (MCN), she served eight years on the board of directors and chaired MCN annual meetings in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She has also spoken at conferences of the American Association of Museums and the Western Museums Association. Ms. Misunas holds an M.A. in museum studies from John F. Kennedy University, and a B.A. in art history from the University of Chicago.
Arthur Molella is the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C. The center has received major awards from the American Association of Museums for its exhibition Invention at Play and its related Web site. He served as chairman of the museum’s history of science and technology department (1983–94) and assistant director for history (1994–97). He was head curator of Science in American Life, the Smithsonian’s permanent exhibition on science and society. In spring 2007, he taught as senior lecturer in the department of history of science and technology at The Johns Hopkins University. He has published widely on the historical relations between technology and culture. Recent publications include Inventing for the Environment (ed. with Joyce Bedi, 2003) and Invented Edens: Techno-Cities of the 20th Century (with Robert Kargon, 2008). He received a Ph.D. in the history of science from Cornell University and an honorary doctorate of science from Westminster University, London.
Alan Morrison is a faculty member in the Department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster, Coordinator of the scholarly Smithsonian-Westminster Colloquium, and a Lemelson Center Research Associate at the National Museum of American History. Trained in philosophy, his interests lie particularly in the field of aesthetics and the construction and presentation of cultural meaning. He has extensive experience in the field of international education and has developed London Studies courses for the University of Westminster's European Erasmus exchange, Study Abroad and International Student Programmes. He has lectured at many London museums and galleries including the National Gallery, the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and has curated a number of exhibitions, including Sir George Cayley the Father of Flight at the Royal Air Force Museum, London, and several other exhibitions on 20th century British art.
Randall Packer is an internationally acclaimed multimedia artist and composer, creating works that have pioneered the integration of interactive media, installation, and live performance. His work has been performed and exhibited at galleries, museums, theaters, and festivals throughout the world. Most recently, he received a commission to debut his multimedia theater work, "A Season in Hell," at the ZER01/01SJ Biennial in San Jose. Dr. Packer holds a PhD in music composition and has taught multimedia at the University of California, Berkeley; Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore; and American University in Washington, DC. He is a writer and scholar in the field of new media, most notably the co-editor of "Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality."
Charles Patch has directed the information systems department at the Historic New Orleans Collection for the past 17 years. There he has overseen the development of two collections information systems and numerous special projects, including kiosk-based multimedia presentations, large-scale digitization, and a GIS system for displaying historical data. He managed the development of the MINT collections information system, which integrates museum collections management functions with library and archival cataloging practice. He has served as a board member and president of the Museum Computer Network and as a representative for the American Association of Museums on the joint committee for archives, libraries, and museums. He has been the project lead for his institution in an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership project and has served on several review panels for the IMLS. Following Hurricane Katrina, he conducted workshops on disaster preparedness and recovery using lessons learned during the post-hurricane flood of New Orleans in 2005. He holds an associate’s degree in computer and information technology from Tulane University College and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Wisconsin.
Paul Pearson is an independent consultant specializing in strategic and interpretive planning for museums. He recently investigated audience potential and best practices in program and facility design for a new children's museum planned in Doha, Qatar. Mr. Pearson was the Senior VP of Visitor Experience at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum (BCM) where he led interpretive planning and experience development for a 52,000 square-foot capital expansion completed in 2008. He oversaw the growth of BCM’s exhibition, education and collections initiatives as well as visitor service planning, membership and earned income between 2001 and 2009. Mr. Pearson entered the museum field as a freelance designer before joining South Street Seaport Museum in 1986 as Exhibits Manager, then Curator and Director of Exhibitions. He is an alumnus of the Getty Foundation’s Museum Leadership Institute and served as President of the Youth Museum Exhibit Collaborative between 2005 and 2009. Mr. Pearson holds a B.S. in art and education from St. John’s University (Minnesota) and received M.A. and M.F.A. degrees from the University of Iowa.
Sarah Pharaon is the Program Director for U.S. Initiatives with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a worldwide network of over 250 historic sites and museums specifically dedicated to remembering past struggles for justice and addressing their contemporary legacies. Her work includes oversight of the Immigration and Civil Rights Network as well as a network dedicated to interpreting the history and legacy of Native American Boarding Schools. Previously, she worked as Director of Education at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, where her responsibilities included developing tour narratives; designing education programs including teacher training workshops; and managing the educator staff. Prior to this, she was the founding curator of the Arab American National Museum (AANM.) As a museum professional in a team of visionary community organizers, Ms. Pharaon was a key leader in developing the narrative, collections, and overall design of the AANM. Ms. Pharaon completed her M.A. coursework in History Museum Studies at the Cooperstown Graduate Program and holds a B.A. in American Studies from Franklin and Marshall College. She has taught at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Seton Hall University, University of Michigan and the Cooperstown Graduate Program.
Liza Rawson is an experience development and project management consultant with over 25 years of work in the museum field. Ms. Rawson currently serves as adjunct faculty for the museum graduate programs at Bank Street College of Education and Johns Hopkins University; and is a Senior Exhibition Developer for Liberty Science Center. Until December 2009, she was Senior Exhibition Developer/Project Manager for Brooklyn Children’s Museum where she led the development of award-winning exhibitions including: Building Brainstorm, World Brooklyn, Japan & Nature: Spirits of the Seasons, Pattern Wizardry, and Global Shoes. Previously Ms. Rawson led projects for the Museum of the Chinese in America, Brooklyn Historical Society, King Manor Museum, Richmondtown Restoration, and others. She is a frequent presenter at museum conferences on aspects of exhibition development and her publications include: “It’s About Them: Using Developmental Frameworks to Create Exhibitions for Children (and Their Grown-Ups)” in Connecting Kids to History with Museum Exhibitions (2009). Her work has been recognized for excellence by AAM, ACM, NEH, and AASLH. Ms. Rawson holds an M.A. in History Museum Studies from Cooperstown Graduate Program, and a B.A. in Historic Preservation from Goucher College.
Joyce Ray is associate deputy director for Library Services at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Prior to joining IMLS in 1997, she was at the National Archives and Records Administration for ten years, where she held positions including appraisal archivist, special assistant to the Archivist of the United States, director of Technological Evaluation at the National Historical Publications and Records Administration, and Acting Program Director at the NHPRC. At IMLS, she directs competitive grant programs that distribute more than $40 million annually in grants to libraries, archives, museums, institutions of higher education and related organizations. Programs include grants for digitization, digital tools and services, digital preservation and curation, collaboration between libraries and museums, and both formal and informal education in digital curation. She represents IMLS (an associated partner) on a three-year project funded by the European Union in 2010 to develop a digital curation curriculum for professional staff of European libraries, archives and museums. She has a master’s degree in library and information science and a Ph.D. in history, both from The University of Texas at Austin.
Douglas Robertson is a financial economist in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is part of the United States Treasury Department. He conducts research on a broad range of topics related to banking and financial markets. Recent projects include a study of how investments in hedge funds and private equity funds affect the performance of public pension funds and a cost and benefit analysis of recently proposed changes to bank capital rules. Prior to his current position, he worked in the Office of Financial Institutions Policy at the Treasury Department and the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Dr. Robertson received his Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from the University of Maryland and his B.A. in economics from Grinnell College.
Kris Sayre has been an art museum educator for the past 16 years, in the education department at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and as director of education at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul. She has served as team leader in the writing of elementary art curricula for the St. Paul Public Schools and for ten years as museum education representative on the governing board of art educators of Minnesota. She wrote the award-winning online art resource Get the Picture: Thinking about Photographs. Ms. Wetterlund has designed and implemented a two-year program to train K-12 teachers throughout Minnesota to use online art museum resources and technology in their classrooms and has also provided services for users of the Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO), advising educators who implement AMICO digital art resources in curriculum and teaching. She has also developed a national plan for delivering the Mellon Foundation’s ARTstor project to K-12 teachers and students as a classroom resource. She received her degree in art education from the University of Minnesota and is certified as a K-12 Minnesota teacher.
Scott Sayre , co-founder and a principal of Sandbox Studios, has more than 15 years of experience in guiding museums to select, develop, and apply educational and business technologies. In 2005, Sandbox Studios formed Museum 411, which focuses on the design, production, and hosting of mobile phone-based museum information systems. From 2002 to 2003 he served as the Art Museum Image Consortium’s (AMICO) director of member services and U.S. operations. From 1991 to2002 he was the director of media and technology at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where he led the museum’s interactive media group in the development of ArtsConnectEd.org (1997), the institute’s Web site artsMIA.org (1993), and 16 interactive multimedia programs installed throughout the museum’s galleries. Dr. Sayre has also served as the chair of the media and technology committee of the American Association of Museums. He has a doctorate in education from the University of Minnesota, an M.Ed. in training, and a B.A. in visual communications technology.
Anna Slafer is director of exhibitions and programs at the International Spy Museum, overseeing the divisions of exhibitions, curatorial, education, and collections. At SPY she project directed Operation Spy, a THEA-award-winning, hour-long immersive experience. In addition to building the department at SPY from its inception, Ms. Slafer also served as the founding curator of education at the National Building Museum, co-developer/manager of the first Hands On History Room at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, director of the Rolling Rainforest, a completely immersive mobile exhibit, and developer/manager of the Los Angeles Children’s Museum Mini-Museum, a satellite site at the nation’s first art-dedicated shopping mall space. She also served as the executive director of the environmental organization, Renew America. Ms. Slafer has co-authored three award-winning educational publications, including the book, Why Design? She holds a B.A. in Geography/Conservation and Analysis of Ecosystems from UCLA and an M.A.T. in Museum Education from The George Washington University.
Leonard Steinbach is principal of Cultural Technology Strategies, which provides strategic technology consultation services to a broad range of museums and other cultural institutions internationally. Previously, he was Chief Information Officer and member of the Executive Committee of The Cleveland Museum of Art, where he was responsible for technology management and strategic initiatives. These activities garnered two American Association of Museum MUSE Awards, among other national recognition. He has been president of the Museum Computer Network and serves on the advisory board of the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Report – Museum Edition as well as committees and Boards of several museums and other cultural institutions. Mr. Steinbach was formerly Chief Technology Officer for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York). He has spent more than 20 years in technology and senior management in higher education, research, and the arts and is an outspoken, published, advocate for professional, creative, and cost-effective management in the museum and cultural communities.
John Talasek is the director of exhibitions and cultural programs at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., which is focused on the exploration of the intersections between science, medicine, technology, and visual culture. He was the creator and organizer of the recent international on-line symposium on Visual Culture and Bioscience (www.visualcultureandbioscience.org). He has taught at the University of Delaware and Essex and Howard Community Colleges. Mr. Talasek has curated several exhibitions at the National Academy of Sciences, including Visionary Anatomies, Absorption + Transmission: Work by Mike and Doug Starn and Cycloids: Paintings by Michael Schultheis. At the University of Delaware, he organized and curated Observations in an Occupied Wilderness: Photographs by Terry Falke and LightBox: The Visual AIDS Archive Project. He is the art advisor for Issues in Science and Technology Magazine, published by the University of Texas at Dallas and The National Academies. He holds a B.S. in photography from East Texas State University, an M.F.A. in studio arts from the University of Delaware, an M.A. in museum studies from the University of Leicester.
Selma Thomas is a filmmaker and a distinguished museum consultant specializing in the development of digital media for exhibitions and other public programs. Ms. Thomas produced several award-winning public television documentaries before beginning her work with museums and libraries twenty years ago. Since then she has designed and produced interpretive media, both site- and web-based, for a variety of cultural institutions, including: the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, the Chicago History Museum, the Exploratorium, the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Library of Congress. In addition to her exhibition work, Ms. Thomas has developed public programs and interpretive plans for a number of institutions, including Historic St. Mary’s City, the Franklin Institute Science Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Women of the West Museum. She most recently served as Senior Advisor for Museum Training & Interpretation at the Qatar Museums Authority. Ms. Thomas holds a B.A., with Honors in History, from Barnard College and an M.A. from the University of Delaware, where she was a Fellow in History. A 2009 Smithsonian Fellow in Museum Practice, Ms. Thomas used the fellowship to continue her research on the impact of technology on museum interpretation and exhibits.
Holly Witchey is an art historian and museum consultant with more than 20 years experience working in museums. Most recently she was at the Cleveland Museum of Art where she served as director of new media for 10 years. She is also on the board of directors of the Museum Computer Network and is an American Association of Art Museums-appointed member of the national committee for archives, libraries, and museums. From 2002 to 2007 she served as a member of and, eventually, chair of AAM’s media and technology standing professional committee. As associate curator of European art at the San Diego Museum of Art, she began developing content-rich projects for museums using new technologies. In 2000 she left the curatorial world to start the new media department at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Dr. Witchey writes and speaks about museum ethics, accessibility, and issues that have arisen as a result of the use of new technologies in museum settings. She has a Ph.D. in 15th-century Italian painting and sculpture.
Karen Wizevich is Program Coordinator and full-time faculty in the Johns Hopkins University Museum Studies program. She has worked in the museum field for over 20 years, both in-house and as a consultant. In house positions include being the Director of Exhibits and Architecture at the Museum of the Earth (Ithaca, NY), and five years at Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, NJ, starting as the Director of Evaluation, ending as the Acting Vice President of the Guest Experience. She was a Fulbright scholar in New Zealand, and worked with a variety of museums, including the Museum of New Zealand. Her consulting clients are varied, including history, science, art, and performing arts institutions, such as the American Museum of Natural History (NY), Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.), Vassar College Theater (NY), Mystic Seaport (CT), the Old State House (CT) and the Mystic Seaport (CT). Her interests lie in the intersection of museum architecture and the visitor experience. She holds a Ph.D. from Victoria University (New Zealand) in Architecture/Museum Studies and an M.S. from Cornell University in Design and Environmental Analysis.
Carol Zawatsky is the associate director for art, ideas, and Jewish life at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. A seasoned museum professional, Ms. Zawatsky most recently served as founding executive director of the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, Ohio, where she oversaw the museum’s role as a cultural center for Jewish life and history in the region. She served as the director of education at The Jewish Museum, New York, from 1998 until 2004. While there, she leveraged the museum’s resources to develop new relationships with broader audiences. She was program coordinator at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., from 1994 to 1998, where she conceptualized, developed, and implemented programs that focused on the lessons of the Holocaust for a broad public audience. She has served as a member of the steering committee for the Council of American Jewish Museums and has also moderated panels for a number of regional, national, and international conferences and seminars. She has a B.A. in art history from the University of Maryland and an M.A. in museum education from George Washington University.
Deborah Ziska , chief of press and public information, National Gallery of Art, Washington, oversees media relations and marketing activities. In 21 years at the Gallery she has managed publicity, advertising, and outreach for hundreds of exhibitions; acted as the Gallery’s lead spokesperson, and initiated many community and international cultural tourism collaborations. She is an advisor/pro bono consultant to The Fund for Arts and Culture and serves on the Marketing Advisory Committee for Destination DC. Honors include the Public Relations Society of America's 2004 Silver Anvil Award of Excellence for Multicultural Public Relations for Washington's "Blues and Dreams" celebration, and Advertising Age's "Top Marketing 100" award for promotion of the 1998 blockbuster exhibition, Van Gogh's Van Goghs. Ms. Ziska worked for the End Hunger Network; the Overseas Education Fund; Porter, Novelli, and Associates; the National Commission on Working Women; WUSA-TV (CBS); the American Red Cross; and the Prince George's County School System, Maryland. She studied studio art at the Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, and earned a B.S. in advertising design with areas of concentration in radio/TV/film and art history from the University of Maryland, College Park. She studied telecommunications policy in the graduate program at George Washington University, Washington, DC.

MA in Museum Studies | Highlight on Faculty

Program Chair

Program Director

Faculty Members

FOLLOW US ONLINE

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

CONTACT US