Graduate Student Contributors

Laura Browarny 

Laura Browarny is a dual degree student at Seton Hall University. She first became involved in the art world as an artist, focusing mainly on printmaking and painting. She decided to take the acedemic route and earn a degree in Art History, and it was during this time that she was exposed the the MA in Museum Professions program. Laura had taken courses with Janet Marstine on both an undergraduate and graduate level, so when she was asked to be the temporary work study for the Institute of Museum Ethics, Laura was happy to accept. She worked for a term as Marstine's assistant and became very involved in organizing the Defining Museum Ethics Conference and improving the IME web portal. Even after her term had ended, Laura continuted to contribute her time as a volunteer to make sure that the conference and its related events ran smoothly. She also performed interviews with some of the guest speakers and prepared commentary on a few of the presentations to be posted on the web portal. Laura plans to complete the program in 2009 and will use some of what she learned during her time with the IME to complete her thesis, which will focus on interpretation of Native American art in museums. 

Rachel Dudek

Rachel Dudek graduated in 2002 from the Catholic University of America with a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Classical Civilizations. Because of her background in anthropology she has an interest in how  people and institutions interact with one another. The IME looks at ethical issues facing today's museums, many of which stem from the ethical obligations placed on the museum by the public's trust, i.e. the interaction between people and an institution. This interaction intrigued her and led her to the IME. Rachel Dudek assisted with planning and implementation of the IME's inaugural conference, "Defining Museum Ethics," conducted interviews with conference speakers and wrote commentaries on speaker presentations.

Leslie Meyer

Leslie Meyer assisted with the IME's web portal evaluation by researching current practices, developing an annotated bibliography, and creating an evaluation feedback form. After graduating with a B.A. in History from Rice University in 2003, she enrolled in the Seton Hall University Museum Professions program, focusing on Museum Registration and Collection Management, in 2006. Her thesis topic is Under Construction: Registration Practice during Museum Building and Construction. Originally from Texas, Leslie intends to pursue her museum career there.

Erin Peters

Erin Peters contributed reviews to this web portal. She is a graduate student in the Exhibition Management track of the Museum Professions program at Seton Hall University. After graduating from Arizona State University in 2003 with a B.A. in Art History, Erin received an M.A. in Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology from the University of Memphis' Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology in 2007. She is excited to be involved with the new Institute of Museum Ethics at Seton Hall.

Mark B. Schlemmer

As part of the evaluation team of the IME, Mark B. Schlemmer conducted research on the creation, management and evaluation of virtual communities to assess and advise on the new web portal.
Mark will finish his M.A. in Museum Professions at Seton Hall University in May of 2008. His interests include time-based media and the documentation of contemporary art. He intends to pursue a museum career in the New York City area.

Heather Hope Stephens

Heather Hope Stephens contributed to the annotated bibliography. She will complete her M.A. in Museum Professions at Seton Hall University in 2008, and will continue her education this fall at DePaul University College of Law (Chicago, IL). Previously, Heather Hope received her B.A. in Art History from Douglass College (New Brunswick, NJ) in 2002, and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Art History from SACI (Florence, Italy) in 2005. As an undergraduate, she also took part in the Semester at Sea program, visiting nine countries during the 100-day voyage. She is particularly interested in the legal issues confronting museums and private collectors, and hopes to work as general counsel to a museum upon completion of her J.D. in 2011.

Maria Silvestri

Maria Silvestri has helped coordinate the inaugural IME conference. She is in her second year of the Exhibitions Development track in the Museum Professions program. Her undergraduate degree is also from Seton Hall, where she majored in Art History and Italian. She has interned at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and at the International Center of Photography in New York City, and has conducted research in and about museums in eastern Slovakia. As a result of her involvement with the Institute of Museum Ethics, Maria has been exposed to ethics-related issues in museums and plans to carry this knowledge into her professional career.

Xue Wang

Xue  Wang is a first year graduate student in the M.A. in Museum Professions program at Seton Hall University. In the museum management track, she is learning about museum fundraising, and management in nonprofit art organizations. She was a volunteer at the Edison National Hisotric Site under the supervision of the curator of Glenmont. From that job, Xue Wang gained hands on experience in museum management issues. During November of 2008 she received a stipend from the Institute of Museum Ethics for which she worked on preparations for the IME's Inaugural Conference.

Xue Wang graduated from the Beijing Institute of Technology, with a dual bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration. After one and a half years working in the commericial section of the Singapore Embassy in Beijing, she chose to move on to Seton Hall's M.A. in Museum Professions program to combine her interest in the arts and working experience in management.

Elen Woods 

Elen Woods received her Bachelor of Arts from Loyola College in Maryland in 2002. After graduation, Elen moved to St. Petersburg, Florida to work at the Salvador Dali Museum.  As Assistant Curator and Library Coordinator, Elen curated The Fine Art of Collecting Dali (2007), co-curated Dali and the Zodiac (2006), Dali by the Decades (2005) and Sources Revealed (2004), and has contributed an essay to the Salvador Dali: Liquid Desires (2009) exhibition catalog.  Elen also coordinated numerous traveling exhibitions and publications during the Dali Centennial celebration in 2004.  Elen is currently a Development Assistant at the American Federation of Arts and Associate Archivist at the Keith Haring Foundation in New York City.  She is currently writing her thesis on the Clyfford Still Museum.