News
Juilee Decker

RIT’s interdisciplinary collaborations enrich research across the university and beyond. Two of these collaborative projects recently received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of a total $22.6 million in grants given to support humanities projects across the nation.

RIT’s Museum Studies Program collaborated to host more than 50 students and archive and museums professionals last week for a workshop on the artificial intelligence trends, tools, and techniques for the industry.

Led by Professor Juilee Decker, Professor David Messinger, and Professor Roger Easton Jr., the development of the MISHA system was originally planned to help small- to medium-sized cultural institutions in the United States.

Emma Herz Thakur ’24 feels fortunate that at RIT she met people who have won major grants, had their work featured in museums, and are connected with scholars from around the world. Now, she is one of them.

Emma Herz Thakur '24 (ceramics and illustration) aims to create connections between practicing artisans and museum collections as a Fulbright Scholar working in partnership with French potters and France's Natural Museum of Natural History.

A collection of war era ephemera and propaganda art on display now at the University Gallery connects viewers to the experiences and perceptions of the time.  

Photos from past internships, events, and research projects at Genesee Country Village & Museum stretch from floor to ceiling in the new Wehrheim Gallery on campus. Located on the first-floor of the new Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED), the Wehrheim Gallery will be used to highlight work done as part of RIT’s partnership with GCV&M.

The low-cost multispectral imaging system MISHA, or the Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts, was developed by RIT experts to uncover object details that aren’t visible to the naked eye.

When the Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED) opens in the fall, the multi-use facility will create an entirely new learning environment for RIT faculty and students alike.

An interdisciplinary pair of RIT students is headed to Bethesda, Md., to participate in the 2023 Lockheed Martin Ethics in Engineering Case Competition. Emma Nastro, a third-year museum studies student, and Lee Sortore, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student, will represent RIT at the competition, which is held Feb. 27 through March 1 at the Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership Excellence. This is the first time an RIT team has competed in this competition.

Fourth-year student Anna Pasquantonio has always loved National Geographic and has fond memories of collecting animal trading cards from the National Geographic Kids magazine. Pasquantonio’s summer 2022 internship experience at the organization’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., helped turn a life-long interest into a possible career.

Students in the museum studies program shared their research on cultural heritage imaging, preservation, and research by participating in the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Etta Arnold, Alana Bourgeois, and Izzy Moyer presented their papers which were completed under the supervision of Dr. Juilee Decker (Director of Museum Studies) and Dr. David Messinger (Imaging Science Program).