Happy to be here and looking forward!

Contributed by Lainie Schultz

Hi, all. My name is Lainie Schultz, and I am the brand-new Curator of Education here at the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology. I come to this position from the George Peabody Museum of Anthropology (aka the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, or PMAE), where I was previously the Head of Teaching and Learning. It is also where my career in museums began, as an undergrad looking for a federal work-study position. At the time I just thought it would be a relatively painless way to make some money, but it turned out I genuinely cared about museums and the relationships they build with descendant communities. Who would have guessed?

This led me to graduate school in anthropology, and a few more museum stops along the way. In between stints at the PMAE I was introduced to the culture of morning and afternoon tea in the Repatriation Unit of the National Museum of Australia (sometimes the tea is coffee); was thrown into the world of First Nations humor during consultation visits at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (do you know how to pronounce Kwakwaka’wakw? Gitxaała? just bragging…); learned to throw a returning boomerang at Muru Mittigar Aboriginal Cultural and Education Centre (key word “throw.” darned thing never returned); pretended along with the Cultural Collections and Community Engagement section of the Australian Museum that our already well-worn office demountables were only “temporary” (humor came in handy there, too); marveled like the nerd I am at the Berndt Museum of Anthropology’s catalogue records (THEY ARE. SO. COMPLETE.); and stayed with family I didn’t know I had before while at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre (that had nothing to do with the cultural center, but it really meant a lot to me).

I don’t know what new experiences the RSPI will be throwing at me, but I am ready for it all.

Give me what you’ve got!