fbpx

Scholarships

Three scholarships are offered annually to students officially enrolled in the University of Alabama Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies Program.

  • The Craig T. Sheldon and Elisabeth S. Sheldon Endowed Museum Studies Scholarship
  • The John S. Steiner Endowed Museum Studies Scholarship
  • The Camilla Canty Endowed Museum Studies Scholarship

The next application deadline is January 31, 2024. Students need only complete one application for all of these scholarships. Priority of consideration will be given to well-rounded applicants, as evidenced by academic and extracurricular achievements. The three students selected will have $1,200 applied to their student accounts in the spring of 2024.

2024 Recipients

Jessica Dees

The Craig T. Sheldon and Elisabeth S. Sheldon Endowed Museum Studies Scholarship

Jessica Dees graduated with a BS in Anthropology, a minor in studio arts, and a certificate in Cultural Heritage Management. Her thesis project, “Cultural Continuity and Community Collaboration: Recentering Moundville Exhibits” represents an interdisciplinary study of archaeological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and museology to explore how new exhibits at Moundville Archaeological Park will empower descendant communities, decolonize efforts in anthropological and museum practices, disseminate knowledge within the local community, and enhance the museum’s infrastructure. She is leading the development of a decolonization exhibit for the Decolonization Committee in Ten Hoor Hall at The University of Alabama. As a member of the Human Behavioral Ecology Research Group (HBERG) on campus, she was selected as the lead exhibition designer on developing traveling exhibits for non-traditional spaces that aim to reach underserved and wider audiences outside of a traditional museum-visit experience. She will begin another HBERG grant-funded project to develop an exhibit about indigenous tattooing at the Alabama Museum of Natural History.

Jessica Dees

Madeline Dissinger

The John S. Steiner Endowed Museum Studies Scholarship

Madeline Dissinger participated in a self-designed internship with the UA Museums paleontology collections, which reintroduced her to her love for museums and behind-the-scenes work in collections. This internship gave her the necessary experience to pursue a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates placement with the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, where she worked with the same specimens from the Peabody that had captivated her on a visit as a child. After a summer with the Peabody, she applied to the Accelerated Master’s Program (AMP) at UA and began graduate study for her Master of Science in Biology. She has also volunteered with the Gorgas House Museum during the Haunting at the Museum program and found that her time with the Gorgas House expanded her knowledge of museum operations and confirmed her decision to join the Museum Studies Certificate Program. Her career goals involve teaching at a collegiate level, continuing research, and service through a museum, and working towards a PhD.

Madeline Dissinger

Laura Stewart

The Camilla Canty Endowed Museum Studies Scholarship

The coursework that Laura Stewart has completed in Museum Studies at The University of Alabama has been a perfect extension of her primary degree work in communication, rhetoric, and public memory. With research interests in public memory and the rhetoric of space and place, museums have proven fertile ground for her work. In fall 2022, she presented original research on the National World War Il Museum at the National Communication Association Annual Convention. She will be presenting a research project and a top competitive paper exploring the rhetorical effects and implications found in UA’s Gorgas House Museum at the Annual Eastern Communication Association Convention. Through involvement in The University of Alabama Museum Studies program, she had the opportunity to work on the Linton Barbershop inventory, which introduced her to members of the Tuscaloosa Civil Rights History and Reconciliation Foundation. Through this association, she has been part of a team tasked with creating and presenting a mobile exhibit featuring Tuscaloosa native and civil rights hero, Reverend Linton, and artifacts from the Linton Barbershop collection. Laura’s dissertation will be an examination of historic house museums on university campuses, seeking to understand how these museums function as constructors of institutional public memory for their respective institutions of higher education.

Laura Stewart