Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2010 - (Page 40)

exploring career options Curator and research scientist Torben Rick, PhD Director, Archaeobiology Program National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Torben Rick didn’t set out to be a museum curator. He pursued a PhD in anthropology because of a passion for ﬁeldwork and research. But after teaching for four years at Southern Methodist University, a job he admittedly loved, Dr. Rick accepted the position of Curator and Research Scientist at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum: He’d get to work with artifacts at the Smithsonian and do research. Here, he talks about digging for ancient treasures and how it feels to be responsible for priceless artifacts. How did you decide to become a curator? i’m not what you would call a traditional curator. the smithsonian is one of the most heavily visited museums in the world, and we pride ourselves on being a leader—not only in exhibits, education, and public outreach, but in doing cuttingedge research that can enhance exhibits and outreach. my job primarily involves conducting research in the field—gathering materials to build our collection—and translating that to the public. i do have responsibility for the collections. i make sure they’re up to par and being cared for, and that people have access to them. there’s a huge staff in charge of most of the collections’ care, though. temporary exhibit or a permanent one. then we build a team. it’s incredible how much work exhibits are. interview by Amy Entwisle What determines what should be temporary versus permanent? an important consideration is space. right now, all our permanent exhibit halls are full, so it’s a question of whether we’re going to take something else down to put this up. a lot of politics goes into negotiating that. Usually they’re temporary exhibits, but even temporary exhibits can run anywhere from six months to a couple of years or longer, depending on interest. it can also depend on what’s in the exhibit—how fragile and sensitive it is. what the pieces can handle. they may say, “We can’t show this item unless we have this type of climate, this type of humidity. it needs to be out of this type of light, in this type of case.” Unless those qualifications are met, it’s not going on exhibit. What’s a typical day like for you? it depends on the time of year. in fall, i might work on materials we excavated during summer, writing them up and quantifying them for publication. i’m on lots of committees, so i usually have a couple of meetings per week involving planning initiatives. in late spring or summer, i spend several weeks in the field gathering material, and there are many conferences in spring. We give lectures and talks, as well, mostly to universities. next week, i’m attending a conference in Japan for ten days. How do you decide which exhibits and pieces to pursue? We have an entire department of exhibits. they have various projects they’ve thought about for years, or that people have proposed to them. my ideas usually come out of something i’m researching or a topic that could be interesting to the public. We consider whether we’re going to create a you’re responsible for oneof-a-kind, ancient, and irreplaceable works of art. is that a heavy burden? it is. since the smithsonian is a federal government operation and everything here is owned by the american people, we care a great deal for the materials here. But we have a great team of conservators and collections managers with expertise in 40 imagine nov/dec 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2010

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2010
Contents
Big Questions
In My Own Words
Inside the Ropes
Get Your Hands Dirty!
The Bone Reader
The Science of Archaeology
A Window to the Past
History and Archaeology in the News
National History Day
Dig This!
Selected Opportunities & Resources
Taking the Leap
Off the Shelf
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options
One Step Ahead
Planning Ahead for College
Students Review
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - November/December 2010