The Mission
IMPART has found that there is a growing job market in Maryland, and across the country, for students graduating in the heritage disciplines (museum studies, conservation, archaeology, historic preservation, and cultural resource management). The growth is related to factors such as the explosive growth of heritage tourism (the fastest growing segment of an $8 billion industry in Maryland), increasing interest in the rehabilitation of historic structures, expanding government mandates for cultural resource management, and other trends. At the same time, there is a growing need for qualified personnel to fill these jobs within the state as Maryland’s institutions of higher education are not adequately equipped to train students and professionals to meet these needs.
The members of IMPART have designed a ground-breaking approach to meeting Maryland’s needs in this regard. It emphasizes a broad and carefully coordinated partnership, one in which each member builds to its individual strengths in a non-competitive fashion. It stresses the sharing of resources and complimentary programming. In addition, it unites the educational partners with state agencies that have expertise and needs in the heritage and cultural resource arena. Students and faculty will work on problems and issues of concern to state programs, while professionals in state offices will collaborate with colleges in teaching and program development.
The individual educational partners and their planned programs are summarized as follows. The Anthropology Department at the University of Maryland College Park will develop a PhD program, providing the only full-service Anthropology PhD program in the state. The School of Architecture at the University of Maryland College Park will expand its program in Historic Preservation, serving multidisciplinary students with a certificate program and providing conventional two-year MA candidates with a new Masters degree in Historic Preservation. Morgan State University will establish a Master of Arts degree program in Museum Studies and build on its efforts to bring more African American students into historic preservation. Salisbury University will expand offerings in undergraduate anthropology (including a stand-alone archaeology major) and expand the regional efforts of the Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History & Culture. St. Mary’s College will establish an archaeology track in the Anthropology major, strengthen collaboration with Historic St. Mary’s City and the Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, and expand cooperative teacher training programs. Goucher College will expand its undergraduate program in historic preservation, while strengthening its graduate offerings in that area. Goucher aims its graduate program at mid-career professionals and utilizes distance learning. Washington College will develop an MA program in environmental and cultural resource management, emphasizing cross-training for the environmental and cultural resource job markets. Washington College also will develop its new capabilities in marine archaeology.
The leader of the state agency partners for IMPART is the Maryland Historical Trust. The Trust will cooperate with partner universities, supervising and benefiting from undergraduate and graduate research, as well as collaborate with faculty on research and the development of new methodologies and technologies. The Trust also will administer grants and an assistantship program for students. Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, with its Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, will provide a collection studies position and an American Indian/Paloecology position for work with partners. It also will train students and professionals in museum studies and collections management. These programs will provide a strong complement to the academic museum studies and archaeology programs. Historic St. Mary’s City will work closely with nearby St. Mary’s College and the Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum in both undergraduate training and teacher training. The Maryland Commission on African American History & Culture and the Banneker-Douglass Museum will develop student work-study programs and other relationships with IMPART academic partners. They will also provide a staff/faculty position to teach museum studies and supervise student research, taking advantage of the museum’s collections and unique position within the African American community. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History & Culture in Baltimore is collaborating with the State Board of Education to provide K-12 curriculum materials on African American topics. The museum will work with academic partners in developing exhibits, educational programming, community outreach, oral history, and research.
