Kenneth Cohen, assistant professor of history and coordinator of the Museum Studies Program at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, is part of a team at the Calvert Marine Museum, located in Solomons, Md., that has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to renovate the museum’s estuary biology exhibit. Cohen will lead the assessment and evaluation of the project, and will help integrate human history into the exhibit’s storyline.
In concert with this work, Cohen and Professor of Biology Chris Tanner will co-teach a course at St. Mary’s College with Calvert Marine Museum staff in fall 2014. Students in this course will produce guides for the refurbished exhibit.
“The Calvert Marine Museum is a unique institution in that its stories are about the relationship between people and the environment here in Southern Maryland, so it’s a perfect blend for faculty and students at a liberal arts college like St. Mary’s, and we’re excited to contribute,” said Cohen. “We hope this will continue to build our relationship with the Museum and establish a blueprint for further collaboration.”
The renovation project is currently underway. The new exhibit will be open to the general public in the fall of 2014.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland’s Museum Studies Program, one of the most popular minor programs available at the college, develops students’ skills in the preservation of public resources and the public presentation of academic knowledge. The program has previously sponsored classes that have produced interpretive materials for Historic St. Mary’s City, Sotterley Plantation, Jefferson-Patterson Park and Museum, Cremona, and the Southern Maryland Tourism Commission.