Gabriel PhD, Art History Museum Curator

Abstract

After finishing my undergraduate German Studies major, I spent a year in Dresden on fellowship teaching English and American Studies. I applied for master’s programs while I was there, and the best offer came from a school that was close to home, and close to family—so I moved back to the Northwest. They didn’t have a northern European specialist so I shifted my focus to American art. I didn’t realize that it was a three-year master’s program—they don’t tell you that part—and they required two foreign languages before you could even start your thesis credits which makes it a minimum of three years. So I came in fluent in German, having just spent an entire year in Dresden, and I aced the language exam—but then I had to take two full years of French before I could even start my thesis credits. That served me well by the time I started my PhD program, but the time line was kind of daunting from the outset. I’d just spent three years getting a master’s degree, and was looking forward to a minimum of six years more for the PhD. The idea that, oh my god, it would be nearly a decade before I would start my professional life—it seemed overwhelming.

At the end of the day, we all speak the same language. It’s been interesting being a curator; I bring academics to my current institution to speak, and I don’t see any gulf between us except that one of us is working for a popular audience, while the other is working for a student and academic audience.