M.HSPH Alumni Profiles

I was hired to help with a project digitizing historical architectural inventories for the State of Minnesota. I now help with writing historical contexts and perform fieldwork for a variety of projects. I also serve on our Underrepresented Groups Initiative team to find out how we can diversify our projects to better serve other communities and diversify the field. I also consult on some projects that have an archaeological or tribal component since I am the only archaeologist in an architectural office.

With the hands-on capstone projects, I made connections with people in state agencies through my partners. Our blog posts that we wrote as assignments actually prepared me to write a blog post for my job through our Underrepresented Groups Initiative for Native American Heritage Month. Being in the Archaeological track, I had freedom to take classes about cultural resources (architecture), historical archaeology, and Native American archaeology, which helped me become well versed in different aspects of what I currently do with my job as well as the freelance research I do.

I currently manage all exhibits and programs, including four staff members, at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne. I oversee the design, layout, interpretation, and creation of all digital, physical, and traveling exhibitions. So far, this has included exhibits of all scales. Currently, I am working on a significant exhibit renovation, a Capitol art showcase, a digital photogrammetry project, a volunteer-based exhibit, and a children’s interactive space. All of these projects have included community collaboration and insight.

HSPH concepts influence each of these projects. My role provides a lot of potential to make our museum space (physically and digitally) more equitable and community-driven.

Be open.
 
See your time in grad school as an opportunity to absorb new ways of thinking and approaches to projects. You’ll be wrong and mess up a couple of times, but the program, your collaborators, and fellow students will help you through. Having this mindset will let you get the most out of your experiences and allow you to grow personally and professionally.

I create educational resources for students K-12. I conduct research on African American and Native American influence on Moravian FoodWays in the Wachovia tract. I also meet with various stakeholders at the Old Salem Museum to discuss best inclusive practices.

HSPH prepared me for my current position by allowing me to learn through experience and not just by the book. We were given the opportunity to conduct various internships for three semesters. Everything was community-based and hands-on so that our resumes accurately reflect what we are capable of.

My job is to help people reuse and take good care of old buildings. I create classes that teach people maintenance, rehab, and restoration skills. My driving goal is to democratize knowledge about old buildings. I want to ensure everyone has access to the resources, tools, and skills they need in order to take care of places they love. I'm also a huge advocate for built environment sustainability, meaning I support policies and projects that keep existing building materials out of the trash and that reduce our reliance on producing new things. Preservation is inherently a sustainable practice; educating communities about salvage, material reuse, deconstruction, and improving energy efficiency is core to my work. 

I am currently the Director of the UW-Madison Public History Project. The Project is a multi-year Chancellor initiative to uncover and give voice to histories of racism and discrimination at the university. The Project will culminate in a physical exhibit in the fall of 2022, a digital exhibit website, a series of events and public programming, and curricular materials - all of which will encourage the campus community to reflect on the history of the university. So, as most public historians will tell you, I am a jack of all trades! Mostly it's a lot of project management but on any given day I could be presenting to classes, writing exhibit text, organizing events with student organizations, meeting with designers, managing social media accounts and the Project newsletter, building a press kit, etc. The list goes on and on!

The HSPH program gave me the opportunity to practice my craft before working in the field. By the time I started my current position, I had already written an exhibit, worked with a design team, presented to the public, collaborated with various community partners, organized a fundraising public event, managed a communications plan/social media, helped to build a website, etc. These are all skills I learned in classes, internships, or fellowships, and skills that I use nearly every day. Without the program, I would’ve been left to learn those skills on the job (which of course I still am learning all the time at work) but I came into my job with a leg up having done this before. It was also what made me competitive on the job market. My resume was not solely academic but a list of practical experiences, projects, and collaborative partnerships from my time in the program.

My advice would be to think critically about what experiences you are looking for and what skills you would like to develop. There are seemingly infinite possibilities and flexibility in the program, which is wonderful, but can also be overwhelming. Taking the time for self-reflection on the front end can ensure you have the best experience for your unique self in the long run. 

Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. Not only is HSPH a great experiential learning tool but it is also a respectful, open forum for the individual. The folks intimately involved with the HSPH program are open to listening to your needs and criticisms. An understated takeaway that I didn't realize until after I graduated was that HSPH instilled a sense of prioritizing my own well-being while establishing a healthy work-life balance. These are necessary skills not just for grad school but also in life. Since graduating, I am amazed at how many people I've noticed who don't practice these.

I work for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), a federally recognized, sovereign tribal nation located southwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul. As the Tribal Records Specialist, I support the Tribal Records Department in its mission to steward information related to the creation, operation, and success of the SMSC. Following the principles of information governance, we preserve and provide access to this information in order to protect the past, present, and future interests of the Community. On any given day, you can find me digitizing documents, fulfilling information requests, cataloging archival records, or tackling any other project that comes our way.

The HSPH program provided the practical experiences, perspectives, and connections necessary for my current position. Between the (paid) internships and fellowships in areas of records management and digital collections management, especially, I was able to harness the necessary hands-on experience fundamental to my day-to-day work. Likewise, through group projects with my cohort, and partnerships with diverse communities throughout Minnesota, I further developed my communication and interpersonal skills that are at the heart of any collaborative project. In fact, through my master’s capstone project, I was also able to make my first connection with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, where I continue to learn and grow every day. 

Currently, I am a project historian for Wapsi Valley Archaeology, based out of Anamosa, Iowa. Wapsi is an archaeological and historical consultant, so we perform surveys and investigations to help our clients comply with Section 106 and other state and federal cultural resource regulations. My primary role is to help our architectural historian on historic preservation projects, including background research and history, historical field work, and GPS data collection. I also occasionally serve as a principal investigator myself, which involves completing all field work and writing a full report detailing why a property or properties are or are not historically significant, and if they are, how our client should seek to mitigate adverse effects on those properties. I have also served as a field tech on some archaeological projects as well, including performing shovel tests, auger tests, digging test units, and collecting historic and prehistoric materials to assess site significance.

HSPH focuses highly on interdisciplinary study, and this is a tremendous asset. Through my classes and internships, I got an understanding of many systems that are useful in the professional world, like GIS technology, section 106 regulations, and public image databases. All of these have been helpful in my current job, which asks all of us to wear many hats. I need to know the basics of building technology and style to understand what I'm looking at in the field. But because we are a small company, sometimes I am part of a crew where I'm expected to take GPS coordinates of buildings or sites. I have also been asked to help on archaeological projects as well, for which I felt more prepared to help given the basics of archaeology we covered in HSPH classes. Take full advantage of every HSPH opportunity you can to learn something new, even just the basics. This information can only help you in the future.

Currently, I am serving as the Community Cultural Liaison at Yellow Medicine East Middle and High School. My brief summary of my responsibilities includes student support in and out of the classroom; community and school relationship development and continuity; parent and student outreach; cultural competency training, programming, and curriculum; and American Indian Parent Advisory Committee collaboration and facilitation. 

In this field of education, I work with a variety of people with different socio-economic statuses, ethnic backgrounds, and a wide array of age ranges within a rural public institution layered with bureaucratic challenges. All public schools have a lot of potential for growth in regards to relationship building with federally recognized tribes and urban Native American communities to shift from harmful stereotypes and narratives to representative, inclusive curriculum and environments. This is where both the Heritage Studies portion and Public History portion find a confluence in my work as I utilize all these teachings to administer successful and productive programming.

I do research on immigrant populations in Minnesota—not to the extent that nonprofits conduct, but on a smaller scale on any populations of interest. My role, while technically housed in the Exhibitions department, I work closely with the Collections department to track down documents and sources. I also help to take down and install the exhibitions when it’s time. This is another exciting part of my job because I get to do hands-on tasks and help build the great displays that thousands of people get to see year-round.

 My favorite restaurant was anywhere I went with my friends. There's no shortage of great food in the Twin Cities, ranging from Somali, Vietnamese, Hmong, Mexican, Salvadoran, Chinese, and Black establishments between both cities. I would name a favorite but there are so many I've tried. My favorite museum is probably the American Swedish Institute just because of my work connection there. I always enjoyed visiting there with my friends to show them where I work and see their faces when they first looked inside the mansion where the museum is housed. I recommend everyone stop by. The East Side Freedom Library is another great library where I liked to spend time. It's run by a former Macalester professor who really advocates for immigrants and workers and the way he runs the Library, it really shows.