Association of Academic Museums and Galleries

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art has been a cornerstone of art and culture in the Cornell community since 1973, offering free admission to all and welcoming visitors to experience original works of art from diverse global traditions, time periods, and media. 

Join our education department as a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in PreK-12 Museum Education for the academic year 2023-24, with the potential for renewal for the academic year 2024-25! This is an exceptional opportunity for any recent baccalaureate graduate interested in contributing, learning, and growing in promoting engagement with the arts and culture through education and programming. 

At the Johnson Museum, we strive to foster a culture of belonging and a psychologically healthy work environment, where every member of our community communicates across differences, shows respect, compassion, and empathy, and supports others regardless of background or perspective. As a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow, you will contribute to our mission of education, inspiration, and delight through collaboration with our education team, museum departments, Cornell faculty, and graduate students.

The Opportunity

As a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow in PreK-12 Museum Education, you will:

• Develop educational curricula that are inclusive and culturally responsive to effectively engage diverse audiences in various communities.
• Create curriculum materials that are relevant and accessible to people from different racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds, taking into consideration the perspectives and experiences of these communities.
• Learn and apply strategies for connecting with diverse audiences meaningfully and inclusively.
• Immerse yourself in experimental new approaches to preK-12 teaching collaborations in Ithaca and across the Southern Tier.
• Engage with family and afterschool programs, and develop object-based curricula for elementary, middle, and high school students, both in-person and via digital and web-based resources.
• Be a key partner as we collaborate with select faculty and students to update and reimagine our pre-K-12 units dedicated to global arts and cultures in the Museum’s collections, building connections with the Core Curriculum and incorporating elements of studio practice.
• Contribute to our newly launched PreK-12 education web portal, engaging younger audiences, teachers, and parents in new and innovative ways.
• Have the opportunity to contribute to grant application narratives and acquire qualitative research skills, with a co-authored conference paper on an aspect of museum education as a desired output.

We are especially seeking candidates who can incorporate questions of social justice, representation, and equity into curriculum design, as we respond to the needs of an increasingly diverse urban and rural student body.

Core hours for this position are Monday through Friday, 9:00AM-5:00PM, with hours flexed for occasional weekend and evening events.

What We Need

To be successful in this role, you should have:

• Completed a Bachelor’s degree with three years or less experience in any area of study with a deep interest in the humanities and global arts.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, as this position involves regular communication with several internal and external parties to the university.
• Superb organization skills, including the ability to follow protocols, multi-task, and prioritize responsibilities.
• Exceptional customer service skills, focusing on creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere for a diverse population.
• Experience in and/or demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, inclusion, and well-being.
• Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Experience incorporating the perspectives of multiple communities, including communities of color.
• Passion for working in an organization that values and promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and well-being.
• Ability to serve as an advocate for individuals of all ethnicities, genders, ages, and backgrounds.
• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive and equitable working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.
• A cover letter and resume outlining your interest and how your experience and goals align with the potential for mutual success in the role are required for consideration.

If you have all those things, great! We have a few more things that we would prefer you to have, but it’s ok if you don’t.

• Experience working in art studios.
• Experience with, or eagerness to acquire experience with, working with school-age children in formal or informal settings, such as a camp counselor, teacher’s aide, or museum educator, etc.
• Facility with, or eagerness to acquire aptitude with, Word Press and Adobe Creative Suite, including video creation/editing programs and Photoshop.

Rewards and Benefits

• Cornell receives national recognition as an award-winning workplace for our health, wellbeing, sustainability, and diversity initiatives.
• Our benefits programs include comprehensive healthcare options, generous retirement contributions, access to wellness programs, and employee discounts with local and national retail brands. We invite you to follow this link to get more information about our benefits: https://hr.cornell.edu/benefits-pay.
• Follow this link to learn more about the Total Rewards of Working at Cornell: https://hr.cornell.edu/jobs/your-total-rewards.
• Our leave provisions include health and personal leave, three weeks of vacation and 13 holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and an end-of-the-year winter break from December 25-January 1.
• Cornell’s impressive educational benefits include tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program, tuition aid for external education, and Cornell Children’s Tuition Assistance Program.

No Visa Sponsorship is available for this position.

As part of the university’s comprehensive vaccination program, all Cornell employees are required to have and provide proof of an FDA-or WHO-authorized or approved COVID-19 primary vaccination or have obtained a university-approved disability/medical or religious exemption, regardless of their role and work location.

Apply here