Jordyn Bagley is a museums, archives, and public history major.
As I graduate a semester early in December 2023, with a degree in history and museums, archives, and public history with a minor in Italian, I’m looking back on all of the amazing experiential learning opportunities that I have had as a museums, archives, and public history (MAP) student. Here are some of my top experiences that have prepared me to pursue a career in public history!
- Taking courses with hands-on learning.
In the fall of 2021 during my Public History class with Dr. Kneeland, one of our many projects included collaborating with the Underground Railroad Consortium of New York State (URCNYS) to conduct oral history interviews with member site representatives. Nazareth students Anna Kneeland ‘22, Elyse Gosney ‘22, and I interviewed Talima Aaron, the President of the Board of Trustees at the John W. Jones Museum in Elmira New York and Dr. Judy Wellman, the Principal Investigator of the Historical New York Research Associates. This was a great experience to apply the skills we learned in class to take part in URCNYS project and to meet two inspiring people in this field who are passionate about the role of public history and the Underground Railroad.
- Working at the Center for Public History.
For three years I was a special projects coordinator student worker at the Center for Public History (CPH) at Nazareth University. The CPH gives students the opportunity to connect with the Rochester community through project based work. During the spring semester of 2022, graduate student Arlene Lopez ‘18, ‘22G and I designed an exhibit in collaboration with Confronting Our Racist Deeds (CORD) and the Brighton Memorial Library to shine light on the history of redlining and local racially restrictive covenants in Brighton neighborhoods.This was an amazing experience learning to work in collaboration, to showcase this important history to the greater Brighton community.
I also gained more experience in creating exhibits by co-designing the CPH display case outside room GAC 451. One of my favorites was the display created in celebration of 2022 Latinx Heritage Month. Rheanna Barney ‘24 and I designed the Mendez v. Westminster (1947) display that was written in Spanish and English bilingual labels. This display showcased the story of the Mendez family and the historic court case that ruled segregation of Mexican-American students in California public schools to be unconstitutional. Both of these display cases explored the history and legacy of segregation in our society to this day.
- Gaining insight with internships.
A main component of the MAP major is fulfilling 12 credit hours of internships. One internship that I had during the summer of 2022 was with Dr. Michelle Finn, Deputy Historian at the Rochester Public Library, to work on the project titled “Rochester Voices: Latino Oral Histories.” I collaborated on managing the finding aid and the archived collection of oral history interviews. The interviews that were uploaded on the “Rochester Voices” website were conducted by students from Dr. Córdova’s History of Latinos in the U.S. course. Oral histories give people the agency to tell their own stories and allow public historians to listen to and uplift the life stories of everyday people who are too often overlooked or silenced in history. I am happy to have collaborated on this project and to have learned more about the history of the Latinx community in Rochester.
- Studying Abroad in the United Kingdom.
The study abroad program, UK Museums in the 21st Century, is open to all students but I was particularly interested because this program explored the practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion in museums. During the first summer session of 2022, we traveled to London, Oxford, Liverpool, and Belfast to visit museums and analyze their practices. I enjoyed the Museum of Liverpool because of their commitment to community and social justice. This museum shares their authority when partnering with community members by listening to these members’ voices expressing how they wish to be included and represented in creating exhibits. Studying abroad was a cool experience to learn more about museum practices in the UK, meet professionals in the field, and make new friends along the way who also have a passion for public history.
I am grateful for my professors and the opportunities they have given me as well as all the lessons learned, experiences I have gained, and connections made during my time as a museums, archives, and public history student at Nazareth University. I highly recommend pursuing a degree in the MAP program if you are interested in applying history to meet the current needs of today.