Recent years have been entirely strange times for museums of all kinds across the country and the world, but this has not stopped Dr. Alexandra Kelly from recently taking up the position of director and head curator of the university’s Anthropology Museum.
Kelly is part of faculty of both the History and Anthropology departments at UW, where in the latter she is heavily involved in the Museum Studies minor program.
“I teach Intro to Museology for the Museum Studies minor, and I’m looking forward to getting the student internship program up and running again,” Dr. Kelly said.
Despite having only taken on the volunteer position within the last month, Dr. Kelly already has plans for increasing public involvement at the museum, as well as creating further research opportunities for students.
“There’s an exhibit box that was originally intended to be rotating,” Dr. Kelly said. “It would be nice to have two to three interns to get that up and running again, and start rotating through all the really cool stuff we have in storage.”
Kelly is a graduate of the University of Chicago with a degree in Anthropology, as well as a PhD from Stanford for the same.
“My work is mostly historical archaeology,” Dr. Kelly said. “I work in time periods where we have historical documents and where there are connections between textual history and material remains.”
Dr. Kelly said that coming to the University of Wyoming presented new possible opportunities for her.
“When I came here, I wanted to do more local stuff, so I became involved in the Archaeology field school,” Dr. Kelly said. “It was sort of natural for me to have a joint position between anthropology and history.”
Such a connection between two branches is invaluable in the world of museums, as Dr. Kelly is hoping to use her field experience to form connections across campus, the state, and the larger archeological and anthropological communities.
“The Museum Studies committee and I are involved with trying to establish connections between repositories across campus,” Dr. Kelly said. “There is potential for great internships and opportunities to study so many collections.”
Dr. Kelly wanted to emphasize the importance and impact that the Museum could offer to students here on campus.
“You can get so much experience doing collection-based research, and that’s part of what the Anthropology Museum is here for,” Dr. Kelly said.
These connections are not just important for the purposes of research. “I’m working on connections across the state, with the Wind River reservation for example, making sure we’re displaying things respectfully and appropriately,” Dr. Kelly said.
“Field archaeology is a very cool opportunity, and very productive in telling us about the long-term use of landscapes. I’ve also always had an interest in Western representation of African history, and this museum opportunity is a great way to bring that to the forefront of what I’m doing here at UW.”
While most of Kelly’s experience lies in the field, she understands the importance behind museum curation.
“I have more experience with doing research through museum collections rather than curating them and I’m hoping to round that out with more practical experience.” Dr. Kelly said. “The discussion surrounding ethics of collections is hugely important right now.”
Dr. Kelly said that important considerations need to be made in order to discuss the ethics of collections, the ramifications of colonialism, and respecting history and other archeological importance.
As for the museum, Dr. Kelly hopes to be back to normal operation within the school year. “In the past, we’ve done more group and school tours, and that’s one thing I’d like to get going again.”
For inquiries concerning group tours or the UW Anthropology Museum in general, contact Dr. Kelly via email alexandra.kelly@uwyo.edu, or call the Anthropology Department at 307-766-5136.
“I definitely hope to get more annual events to bring to the community,” Dr. Skelly said in closing. “If there is anyone in the community with ideas or a want to collaborate, I am very open to that.”
