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Curatorial Assistant

Job Details

Department Statement
The Longyear Museum of Anthropology, Colgate University’s anthropology museum, is seeking a curatorial assistant committed to social justice, and dedicated to creating opportunities for people to share perspectives with one another.

Situated on the traditional lands of the Oneida Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Colgate is a vibrant liberal arts university of 3200 students located in central New York state.

The Longyear Museum of Anthropology ( LMA ) forms one-half of the University Museums at Colgate, along with Picker Art Gallery ( PAG ). While this position reports to the curator and co-director of the LMA, he/she/they will work alongside colleagues whose roles span the two museums and their collections. As a key component of Colgate’s ambitious Middle Campus Plan for Arts, Creativity, and Innovation, our team is currently re-envisioning and redefining how an academic anthropology museum fits into the contemporary liberal arts experience and into the cultural fabric of the regional communities into which the campus is embedded. Our strategic plan prioritizes implementing decolonizing practices across museum operations, creating a more inclusive and accessible program, increasing student and faculty engagement, and enhancing collaborations on and off campus.

We’d love to hear from you – even if you do not meet 100% of the preferred/desired qualifications.

The starting salary for this position is $51,480 / year. Accountabilities
The Longyear Museum of Anthropology curatorial assistant provides key support in advancing the museum’s research agenda, exhibition program, community engagement, and other strategic initiatives. The person filling the position will be accountable for the following:

Enhancing knowledge about the museum’s collections through research, including conversations with living artists, makers, and community members. Research and relationship-building will support exhibitions, class visits, as well as rematriation, repatriation, and restitution projects.

Supervising student employees and interns.

Providing key support for the museum’s exhibition program and maintaining steady progress on exhibition projects, including managing production schedules, writing and editing exhibition texts and promotional material, managing purchasing, assisting with installation, and giving curatorial tours.

Conceptualizing, coordinating, implementing, and evaluating academic and community programs in collaboration with museum staff and other collaborators. This work may involve occasional evenings and weekends (e.g. student involvement fair, commencement and alumni reunion weekends).

Coordinating access to approved collections for communities on and off campus, including leading tours, preparing for class visits, and liaising with student and community groups on special projects.

Developing and implementing effective communications strategies to various audiences, including communications to students, faculty, staff, and the general public. This work may include coordination with Colgate’s Communications department and other units around campus.

Performing other duties as assigned. Professional Experience/ Qualifications
  • Minimum one (1) year experience in a museum or other cultural institution, or demonstrable equivalent experience.
  • Ability to work collaboratively with a diverse group of faculty, staff, and students on a daily basis.
  • Strong writing and editing skills.
  • Experience conducting collections-based research.
  • Flexibility and the ability to think creatively.
  • Knowledge of relevant computer programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Google applications).
  • Familiarity working with databases and/or demonstration of understanding of database concepts.
  • Solid understanding of and commitment to decolonizing, equity, and inclusion practices, preferably in a museum context.
Preferred Qualifications
  • Additional experience (more than 1 year) in a curatorial role in a museum or other cultural institution, or demonstrable equivalent experience preferred.
  • Firsthand Traditional Knowledge or previous experience collaborating with Indigenous communities.
  • Knowledge of contemporary debates and policy changes in anthropology and the museum world.
  • Previous experience working on exhibitions.
  • Previous experience working with museum collections, including knowledge of safe handling and movement practices.
  • Previous supervisory experience, such as overseeing undergraduate student employees or interns.
  • Experience working on digital and multimedia projects such as online exhibitions, websites, videos, or social media.
  • Previous experience with The Museum System ( TMS ) or TMS Collections databases.
Education
  • Bachelor’s degree in related field (anthropology; archaeology; museum studies; humanities) is required.
  • Master’s degree in related field (anthropology; archaeology; museum studies; humanities) preferred.
Job Open Date 05/04/2022 Job Close Date Open Until Filled Yes Special Instructions Summary
Colgate has a diverse student, faculty, staff, and alumni population representing a variety of races, gender identities, social economic status, sexual orientations, languages, national origins, etc. Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Plan presents a framework for continuing the creation of an inclusive campus and engaging the Colgate community in this effort in the years ahead.

Please describe how you would connect and work with a diverse community. The statement can be any length (e.g. paragraph or page). You can upload the statement under the Diversity Statement document heading. For information on how to write a diversity statement, see our Guidance on Crafting Diversity Statements . EEO Statement
It is the policy of Colgate University not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of their race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, pregnancy, national origin, marital status, disability, protected Veterans status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, being or having been victims of domestic violence or stalking, familial status, or any other categories covered by law. Colgate is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Candidates from historically underrepresented groups, women, persons with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. For more information, click the "How to Apply" button.

Company

Colgate University

Colgate is a distinctive, leading American university known for its intellectual rigor, world-class professors, campus of stunning beauty, and alumni famously loyal to their alma mater.

Time and time again, the world has shown an urgent need for citizens with the ability to create, explore, examine, and connect human knowledge. Colgate University has been answering that call through centuries of academic rigor in the liberal arts tradition.

Colgate attracts world-renowned faculty in a breadth of subject matters as well as innovative leaders in higher-ed administration, all dedicated to building on an educational tradition that has prepared generations of Colgate graduates for success. 

Colgate is deeply invested in employees’ success, and we all work together to ensure that students receive the premier education that is at the University’s core.

The Colgate campus, ranked as one of the most beautiful in the nation, is a place where students develop lifelong bonds with each other, faculty, and staff.

Colgate is located in the village of Hamilton, a community of about 3,800 residents who enjoy downtown’s art galleries and restaurants and who take pride in the many historic homes and public buildings.

Colgate University

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