Since 1804, the New-York Historical Society (New-York Historical) and its stewards have been preserving and showcasing history. For the past three years, it’s been teaching others to do the same, seeking to expand what the face of museum studies looks like.
Dr. Valerie Paley
Through a partnership with the City University of New York’s School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS), New-York Historical has been teaching CUNY students the ins and outs of museum operations via a graduate degree in Museum Studies program.
One of the core goals of the program – it was launched in 2019 – is to diversify museum staff, which then may affect museum curation, said Dr. Valerie Paley, Senior Vice President and Sue Ann Weinberg Director of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library at New-York Historical.
"Through the CUNY SPS, which is historically tapped into a more diverse community of students – and professional studies in particular, these are sometimes people who are looking to make career changes,” said Paley, who oversees the program on behalf of the American museum and library. “And we thought there was just a perfect opportunity for us to use our own staff resources and intellectual capital to imagine what kind of program would help train such new cadres of scholars and museum professionals in an MA setting."
And the diversity that New-York Historical wants to foster and accommodate goes beyond race, Paley said, which is reflected in the course curriculum.
"When we thought of diversity, we weren't necessarily thinking only about gender, racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic diversity, but also matters including disability studies, for example," Paley said.
Such inclusions are part of the program’s more holistic approach to museum studies, Paley said.
