Guest post by Ivor Zimmerman
As someone that had always wanted to do work in a museum, the Museum of Cycladic Art summer internship seemed too good to be true. My academic focus in the Greek world is primarily the archaic period and social history, so the museum's collection and pedagogy were a perfect match. When the internship was first described to me by an advisor who thought it was a good fit, I assumed that it was out of my reach, but I applied as an optimistic reach. How glad I am that I did!
My experience before the internship mainly was with digitization and archival work in the Harvard Classics Department. When I got to Athens, then, I was very excited to be able to do something I was familiar with while working with unique and fascinating material. For the first three weeks of the internship, I scanned, edited, digitized, and organized thousands of files, photos, discs, floppy drives, and film strips. Since there was no existing digital structure, I had to make one. So I created a basic file organization system to categorize the archive, a spreadsheet of every file and object I digitized along with information about that item, and even a README file describing how to best use the archive.
By the end, I had digitized more than a few hundred gigabytes of data from five large boxes of material. I organized it into neat packages and folders, both physically and digitally. Being able to bring so much material buried in boxes, folders, and outdated formats back to the museum in an easy-to-access way was a gratifying experience. I hope it will prove a valuable resource for the museum in the future.
While digitizing the material, I was also preparing to take a visitor from the Center for Hellenic Studies on a museum tour. After spending a few days walking through the exhibits, familiarizing myself with the catalogs of the museum's collections, and doing background research on critical topics, I was able to give a tour to a small group through the museum's entire collection and, thanks to the resources and experience provided to me by the museum, I was confident and able to answer every question they had. The experience I had familiarizing myself with a whole museum of objects and then helping others explore them in a controlled environment was a fascinating and enriching experience.
My last project at the museum was researching the potters and painters behind some of the vases in the museum's collection. It was here that I grew most familiar with the three catalogs provided to me. I cataloged every item in the collection that had an identified potter or painter and then collected as much research and as many resources as possible relating to that person as a preparation for a more intense research project the museum will embark on later. The MCA internship has been one of the highlights of my college experience so far. It was not only fun and exciting but also challenging both academically and professionally. I am so grateful that I could participate in such a program, and I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone interested apply!
Ivor Zimmerman
Ivor Zimmerman is an undergraduate student at Harvard University (Class of 2023) with a concentration in Classical Civilizations. His professional aspirations currently lie within archival or museum work and academia.
Museum of Cycladic Art Summer Internship
This 5-week program for Harvard students is meant to familiarize interns with the activities performed in a museum environment, and to provide high-quality professional training. The interns work in collaboration with curators, museum educators, and communication experts.