Hello everyone! My name is Emily Murray and I grew up in Iowa but live in Naples, Florida. I have my bachelor’s degree from Florida Gulf Coast University in Anthropology and I currently work as the Archives Coordinator at the Florida Gulf Coast University Archives and Special Collections. My job allows me to work with special collections materials, curate exhibitions, supervise undergraduate/graduate student interns, and maintain our online presence! Shameless plug if anyone is interested in archival materials, our instagram is @fgcuarchives! My job never ends 🙂 I am really excited to learn more about copyright, fair use, and other marketing strategies in this class.
I am a year into the MIS program at Florida State University and am hoping to graduate December of this year! How the time flies! With my degree, I hope to continue working in academic institutions in the future. When I am not in class or at work, I try to travel as much as I can and have been to 6 countries so far! The photo above is of me in Ireland (my favorite place 🍀) on a trip last year!
Hi Emily~ How was Iowa growing up and how do you like Naples now? I haven’t heard much of Iowa before so I was wondering how different it was from Florida. I have a friend in Naples so I have visited that city before and I thought it was nice. I was wondering what anthropology was and what you mainly learned. My friend is into anthropology and I think it is when you study the impact of culture that makes us who we are. Which seems similar to the study of psychology or sociology except with the emphasis of our environment and culture. Do you still use knowledge that you have learned in your undergrad when you were studying Anthropology?
Hi Heather! Thanks for your comment! Growing up in Iowa was very nice, obviously not a lot to do, but I made quick connections with friends and neighbors more than I ever have down here in Florida. Naples is about the same, just with a lot more people..! During my years in undergrad studying anthropology, I learned a lot about understanding culture, archaeology, material culture, and traditions/folklore. I took classes in World Religion, Florida Archaeology, Museum Studies, Human Osteology, etc, etc. I definitely still use a lot of knowledge from my degree in my position as Archives Coordinator at FGCU. I think that having a better understanding of people and their history is crucial to preserving and teaching the next generation how and why to preserve history. I also believe that understanding why people act the way they do, influences how I teach and have conversations with students, staff, and members of the public.
Hi Emily! It’s so nice to meet you (virtually)! Your work at the FGCU Archives and Special Collections sounds fascinating, and I’m interested in becoming an archivist myself! It sounds like you’re involved in so many exciting projects at FGCU. I’ll definitely check out your Instagram page—it’s always inspiring to see how archives connect with their audiences online.
What inspired you to pursue a career in archives? Was there a particular experience or job that sparked your interest?
Copyright, fair use, and marketing strategies are such important topics to explore—I’m excited to learn alongside you in this class!
It’s amazing that you’ve been to 6 countries already! Ireland sounds like such a magical place—it’s definitely on my travel bucket list. What was your favorite part of the trip? Are there any other destinations you’re hoping to visit in the future?
Hi Amanda! Thanks for your comment and your kind words! I pursued a career in archives after going to undergrad for my anthropology degree. During my last year, I needed an internship to graduate so I looked at many different museums in the area and because of covid, many were not looking for student interns. Fortunately, the FGCU Archives and Special Collections were, and I haven’t looked back since! I worked my way from intern to student employee, to full-time staff member! The Archives was everything I loved about anthropology and I didn’t know it until that internship. As for my love of traveling, I have been to Ireland about 3 times so far and fell in love because it was the first city I could have no plans for the day and just get lost. My next trip will hopefully be to Japan (I was supposed to go during covid… but we know how that turned out) or Italy.
Hello, Emily!
I’ve never visited FGCU, but I do have a few friends who went there for undergrad. It’s great to now have a connection to their library staff. Your job sounds like a dream gig! I hope your experience in the MIS program has already and continues to enrich your career and develop your aspirations. You mention enjoying the educational context- would you consider working at a university museum? During my undergraduate program, I interned at a digital fabrication lab in the Art Department, during which I proposed and initiated a project which saw the lab borrowing broken artifacts from the FSU Museum of Fine Arts’ collection. We used a high-definition photogrammetry scanner to generate and process point cloud data, virtually reconstructing the broken artifacts. I bit off more than I could chew within a semester, but the project ended up taking off and amounted to several interns borrowing a variety of objects and applying them to a bunch of interesting processes. One of my peers even turned the scanned artifacts into 3D printed jewelry. I’d be interested to hear more about your curatorial role at your job- could you share a little more about that?