Earlham College offering new major

RICHMOND, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — Earlham College says it will use its collections of art, geological, archaeological and natural history elements to teach a new museum studies major. Earlham says museum students will work at the Joseph Moore Museum by leading tours and education programs, along with developing new exhibits and revamping existing ones. 

The program is the sixth new major added to the College’s curriculum within the last year. Ann-Eliza Lewis, collections manager at the Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History at Earlham, says the museum world has undergone major change.

“Twenty-something years ago, when I finished graduate school, there weren’t many museum studies programs, so we were all self-taught. The field has really professionalized. Now you need a degree or a certificate to get a job in the field, says Lewis.

Earlham has offered a minor in museum studies since 1995, which Lewis says has proven popular with students pursuing any kind of degree. Lewis says the program’s first graduate, Fiona Kelly, will graduate this spring as a double-major.

“We purposely designed the museum studies major to help students interested in double-majoring. We’re happy if you’re a biology major and a museum studies major because it only makes your museum studies knowledge stronger, said Lewis.

Indiana Humanities awarded a grant to a team of interdisciplinary students currently working on an exhibit for Lady Ta’an, which is Earlham’s Egyptian mummy.