Alumni from the public humanities program pursue a wide range of careers. Among our former students we have a couple of curators, a communications manager, a cultural planner, a marketing coordinator, an education director, a museum director, fundraisers, a youth and outreach coordinator, and the list goes on. Alumni work for organizations including local historical societies, the Smithsonian Institution, the Pew Charitable Trust, Temple University Library, the city of Providence, a community industrial arts organization, the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, the Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia, the Tribute WTC Visitor Center, and many other organizations. The careers of our graduates are very much dependent on their interests and the ways in which they have shaped the program to reflect those interests. Below is a partial list of public humanities alumni.
Coordinator of Development Operations, American Antiquarian Society
Anna is the Coordinator of Development Operations at the American Antiquarian Society, a research library in Worcester, MA. She is responsible for much of the logistical support for development efforts at AAS, including fundraising campaigns, constituency relations, and stewardship (endowed funds, fellowships, special gifts, etc.). In this role, Anna works extensively with the AAS's Raiser's Edge database, researches foundations and prospective members and donors, and assists with outreach efforts, events, and a variety of fundraising appeals. She joined the staff in the spring of 2012, coinciding with the AAS's bicentennial year and preparations to start its "Third Century" capital campaign -- an especially exciting time to get involved!
Communications and Stewardship Spcialist, Brown University Library
Amy Atticks has worked for and developed projects at a variety of arts and cultural institutions including Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Washington National Opera, Brooklyn Museum, and Heart of Brooklyn. While a student at Brown, Atticks acted as a HASTAC Scholar; classroom facilitator and preservationist for the I WAS THERE project; live-in digital studio assistant to artist Sally Mann; Caretaker for the historic Nightingale Brown House; Assistant Managing Editor for Digital Humanities Quarterly; Encoder for Harvard's Athens' Dialogues Project; and exhibition assistant at the MIT Museum where she developed digital interpretation for the holography collection. An article Atticks co-wrote on digital preservation was also published in Oxford's The Oral History Review in April 2011. Before graduating from Brown in May 2011, Atticks was hired by the Brown University Library system as the Communications and Stewardship Specialist. From the Office of the University Librarian, based in the Rockefeller Library, Atticks currently creates and maintains external relations projects for the Library system including print and digital publications, communications materials, collaborative programs, exhibitions, and stewardship initiatives.
Public Programs Manager, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture
Erin Boyle is currently a Public Programs Manager at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York. At Stone Barns, a working farm and education center, Erin works in a team to design programming centered on sustainable agriculture practices, home-skills, and the culture of agriculture. Programming includes hands-on workshops, demonstrations, lectures, and classes for adults and families.
Assistant Curator, Newport Restoration Foundation
Founded by Doris Duke in 1968, NRF has become a great model of public humanities. NRF has one of the largest collections of restored 18th century homes, all of which are rented out for live and work space. We have two museum sites: Rough Point, the Newport summer mansion of Miss Duke, and the Samuel Whitehorne Museum, a restored Federal-style building in downtown Newport that is home to the Doris Duke Collection of Newport furniture. In addition, NRF owns a historic farm site, Prescott Farm, with period buildings, historic gardens, and private restored homes. My job is the care and interpretation of the collections at the two museum sites and Prescott Farm, with my biggest responsibility being exhibit creation for Rough Point, where we have changing exhibits every year.
Assistant Director of Written Communications, Brown Annual Fund, Brown University
Sara C. Emmenecker is the Assistant Director of Written Communications at the Brown Annual Fund (annualfund.brown.edu). She is a part of the Direct Marketing and Participation Team. Sara's responsibilities include planning, developing and executing the Annual Fund's direct mail and email solicitation programs; writing web content, newsletter articles, and advertisements; and developing and producing videos and other stories that illustrate the impact of the Annual Fund. In this role, Sara constantly utilizes her background in Public Humanities, including her project management, communication, and leadership skills, knowledge of organizational management and non-profit development, and writing experience. She also makes use of her understanding of university administration that she gained as a participant in the inaugural Brown Executive Scholars Training (BEST) Program during her final semester.
Project Manager, Online Programs, Brown University Continuing Education
I support the development and delivery of online continuing education courses for Brown. My work here and previously is a combination of making-it-happen and what is being called "experience design": How are you designing what you are presenting? How will the audience (in this case, a student, a user) experience it? What does your audience need, and how does your invitation fulfill that? I'm absolutely still interested in the sustainability of cultural institutions, public programming, public art, audience engagement, and the relationship of arts and culture to vibrant civic life and public spaces -- and I've found my work resonating with these public humanities topics again and again. When questions of mission or strategy come up, I always refer to Stephen Weil's essay on the purpose of museums in public life, and I still think all the time about place. Even the online world, since my time at the JNBC, seems much more a kind of public space than it used to. I went into the Public Humanities Program thinking I would learn about museum programming, and graduated seeing that public encounters with ideas happen -- and can happen -- in so many contexts, from a physical landscape shared by your local community to a digital interface in the palm of your hand that connects you to a global public. Making these encounters engaging and relevant is exciting work.
Manager, Communications and Public Programming at Temple University Libraries
I develop publications, outreach strategies, and public programs for the system of seven libraries at Temple University in Philadelphia. I also serve as staff writer and editor, scripting everything from blog posts and federal grants to thank you letters and exhibition catalogs. I implemented the Libraries' first public programming series – "Beyond the Page: Exploring the Cultural, Historical and Scholarly Record at Temple." We're entering our fifth semester now, and I develop topics as well as plan / implement the entire season. This includes all outreach, advertising, survey and evaluation, and audience development. I also manage exhibition creation, special events, and other special initiatives (web exhibitions, our annual research competition) for my organization.
Small business owner and lead designer, Leanne Tremblay Fine Handmade Textiles
I am a textile designer and fiber artist who uses an independent design model that combines complete vertical integration and green entrepreneurship. My work is sold wholesale and retail online and through boutiques, galleries, and artisan markets, primarily in New England and New York. My public humanities background contributes significantly to my business, particularly with regard to marketing, branding, arts advocacy, and exhibition participation and curation.
Apprentice Colonial Interpreter, Plimoth Plantation
I portray Alice Bradford, wife of the governor, in the 1627 English village living history site, teaching the public about 17th-century foodways, agriculture, cultural history, and "current" events through first-person interpretation.
International Marketing Coordinator, Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
I work with other members of MOTT's International Marketing team to plan Familiarization (FAM) tours for international journalists and tour operators. These are trips for both media and trade professionals who are coming to Massachusetts to explore and learn about the state, in order to return home and write stories about it or send tours here. In addition, I sort and send out to the industry all international press that comes through about the state. I also write descriptive themed itineraries for the Web site and for travel trade events, and am currently compiling a "history of the U.S. through Massachusetts sites" that will live on the Web site, www.massvacation.com. Through my job I've gotten to know tourism industry professionals across the state, and created interesting, not-your-typical itineraries, like Edward Hopper’s Massachusetts, a Moby Dick trail, and a farm-to-table themed FAM.
Program Director, 18 Reasons
18 Reasons is a non-profit that engages community with the people and ideas that feed them. We hold classes, lectures, dinners, art openings, and many hybrid events that mix a little bit of everything. My role as the program director is to plan our community engagement schedule (i.e., all of those dinners, classes, lectures, and hybrid art events) so that it reflects our mission and goals as an organization. Topics that we address are very diverse and include: local agriculture, natural wine making, the carbon footprint of our diet, sustainable living, cultural heritage, community building, butchery, Meatless Mondays, and so forth. Please get in touch!
John Walsh Fellow, Yale University Art Gallery
Broadly, my job is to connect the Gallery's educational initiatives with those of the Yale and New Haven communities. Working with Yale undergraduate audiences, I oversee the Angles on Art program, in which students learn about the collection, pedagogy, and museum practices, ultimately researching and designing thematic tours, which they give to give to the New Haven public. I also organize events called "College Nights" in which we collaborate with Yale courses and student organization through a range of programs. Working with the New Haven community, I teach K-12 classes in the gallery, design curriculum, conduct teacher workshops, and co-coordinate our partnership with COOP Arts and Humanities Magnet High School. My fellowship also provides that I do research on the collection and the role and reach of university arts and learning initiatives. I'd be happy to answer questions about the program.
Resident History Educator, American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
My projects include planning professional development seminars for history educators on topics in U.S. history, and the development of an online database of history education resource for educators. I have also had the opportunity to plan upcoming interdisciplinary public programs and new digital initiatives around the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. These projects correlate to my interests in history education (in museums or otherwise), and to how digital tools can increase access to the humanities. At ASHP, we work to put the lives of ordinary people front and center, looking at how they have shaped and been shaped by political and economic transformations; this sets us apart from many public history organizations, especially those that do professional development for educators. Our programs and resources also bridge the most recent scholarship in the academy with K-12 practice.
Associate, Via Partnership, LLP
Via Partnership is a public art consulting firm that works with communities across North America to develop and implement public art strategies. Our work encompasses public art project development and management, art master planning, artist selection, artist management, and community involvement.
Deputy Public Affairs Officer and Command Historian, District of Columbia National Guard
I work in the joint public affairs office for the District of Columbia Army and Air National Guards. Our missions include media relations, legislative affairs, a quarterly magazine, Web site development, social networking, community outreach, and historical activities. As command historian, I oversee a team that writes unit histories, compiles and archives unit records, constructs lineage and honors certificates, takes documentary photos and video, writes articles on historical topics for the quarterly magazine, conducts oral histories, and produces exhibits on the history of the DC Guard. Our current priority is the creation of a new National Guard Museum at the DC Armory. I think that I may have one of the best jobs in the Army! I spend a lot of time in the archives and working on plans for the museum, but get to follow along with the units to record their training, talk to soldiers, and create events that connect them with their history.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Office for the Arts
I organize and produce artist projects, lectures, and events for the arts at MIT. I'm reorganizing the Artist-in-Residence Program and produce annual meetings and trips for the Council for the Arts at MIT. I am also producing MIT's 150th anniversary Festival for Art, Science, and Technology during the spring of 2011. It's a festival of 4 weekends over 4 months that includes exhibitions, performances, installations, screenings, panels, and workshops. The event culminates in a parade and campus wide exhibition that range from pavilions created by architecture faculty, floating light-up objects on the Charles River, interactive fiction scavenger hunts on PDAs, inflatables, shadow sculptures, and more!
Cofounder and Codirector of Populardelujo
Populardelujo is an independent award-winning project devoted to Bogotá's (Colombia) ordinary culture. By documenting and researching the city's graphic landscapes and vernacular imagery, Populardelujo aspires to raise the visibility of populations and cultural experiences traditionally underrepresented – which strongly relates to my interests in social and local history and cultural hybridization. The project embodies a variety of public humanities platforms (Web sites, exhibits, public space interventions, publications, workshops, conferences, etc.), thus training me in curatorship, writing, publishing, and information and exhibit design. Since the project's contents consist mainly of original research, I have developed experience in fieldwork and researching ephemera, digitization of primary sources, and oral history. Populardelujo has developed projects for different venues in France, Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Chile, Uruguay, and several cities in Colombia.