Museum Studies Blog

BY: LUKE SKULSKI Growing up, I did not originally plan on working in the museum field. I’ve always loved museums, but I had initially planned on studying media production. In high school, however, I made a seemingly inconsequential choice. In 2013, I began volunteering at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Initially, I had just planned …

BY: MCKAYLA “MIC” BUCHWITZ For as long as I can remember, museums and storytelling have captured my imagination. Whether wandering through exhibits as a child or contemplating the ways objects carry narratives of connection and transformation, my passion for preserving and sharing stories has been a source of inspiration in my life.  Over the past …

BY: MARY GLISSON Growing up, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. In high school, I chose history as my college major because it was my favorite subject. Once I started to immerse myself in history and realized how museums could make it come alive, I knew museums were …

BY: GRACIE COLLIER My career path in life has been winding, to say the least. Unlike in European countries, where youths are expected to start selecting their path and specializations even before graduation, in the US, we seem to encourage more disparate experiences, seeing where life takes you. There has always been a core interest, …

Congratulations to the 2025 class of Museum Studies MAs! This is the first cohort of Museum Studies graduates of IU Indianapolis. These students have learned how to be well-rounded museum professionals, developing useful skills, ranging from strategic planning to object conservation to program facilitation to exhibit design and more. This cohort has exemplified the six …

27 years ago, Dr. Liz Kryder-Reid joined the IUPUI (now IU Indianapolis) faculty, ready to make a difference. Since 1998, Liz has worked tirelessly to build IUI Museum Studies into the leading program that it is today. She has helped turn passionate students into successful, collaborative, and hardworking museum professionals. Liz has taught us all …

BY: DR. LOIS H. SILVERMAN, IZZY SILVERMAN, AND MIN DURHAM Did you know that Drs. Lois H. Silverman and Laura M. Holzman and MSTD students collaborated with the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia and created the Museum of Broken Relationships Indianapolis (MBRI) back in 2022? Did you attend or help create the 3,200 …

BY MIC BUCHWITZ, KYLIE BARKLEY, AND THOMAS CRAIN In the United States and Canada, thousands of Indigenous women and girls disappear and are murdered every year. In 2018, a study completed by Urban Indian Health Institute found that out of 506 cases, nearly 27% of victims were 18 years old or younger, and among the …

BY: JENNA SERVIZZI Throughout my involvement in the Museum Studies Undergraduate Certificate program, I have fallen in love with collections and the idea of working in collections. For my internship this semester, I was incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the Fine Arts and Culture collection at the Indiana State Museum. Part …