Museum Studies Faculty

Suse Anderson
Suse Anderson

Graduate Advisor; Associate Professor, Museum Studies

Suse Anderson joined the faculty of The George Washington University in 2016 and currently serves as program head and graduate advisor in the Museum Studies Program. For much of her career, her research focused on the intersection of museums and technology. Read More  


Ashleigh D. Coren
Ashleigh D. Coren

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Ashleigh D. Coren is a content strategist, educator, and curator based in the Washington, D.C. area.
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Mary Coughlin
Mary Coughlin

Associate Professor and Head of Museum Studies Online Certificate

Professor Coughlin has an interest in the conservation challenges of contemporary museum collections, particularly with respect to plastic. Before coming to GW full time, she worked for five years in the Objects Conservation Laboratory of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History where she conserved objects as diverse as FDR’s leg braces and Star War’s C-3PO and R2-D2.
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Joanna M. Gohmann
Joanna M. Gohmann

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Joanna M. Gohmann is an art historian and provenance specialist with more than 14 years of museum experience. She believes that researching and sharing object and collection histories is central to maintaining transparent, equitable and relevant museums.
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Nick Hemenway
Nick Hemenway

Program Administrator, Museum Studies Program

Nick Hemenway (he/they) is the new Academic Program Administrator for the Corcoran's Museum Studies program.
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Robert Horton
Robert Horton

Retired Assistant Director for Collections and Archives, National Museum of American History, Museum Studies Program

Bob Horton studied history at Brown, Ohio State and Yale, then started his archival career at the State Archives of Indiana.
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Schillica Howard
Schillica Howard

Assistant Professor of Museum Studies, Museum Studies Program

Schillica Howard is an Assistant Professor of Museum Studies, bringing a fresh perspective and passion for collections management to the field. Before joining the faculty at GW, Schillica worked primarily with African American collections, museums, and cultural institutions as a curator, collections manager, and registrar focusing on preserving marginalized narratives.
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Sarah Jencks
Sarah Jencks

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

As founder and principal consultant of Every Museum a Civic Museum, LLC, Sarah Jencks works with museums and museum educators to help them articulate their authentic civic missions and envision the possibilities for igniting and enacting the collective impact of museum education in our democratic republic.
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Rebecca Kennedy
Rebecca Kennedy

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

With over 15 years of experience, Rebecca has worked with a variety of collections in storage and on exhibition.
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Mara Kurlandsky
Mara Kurlandsky

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Mara Kurlandsky is an independent content producer and digital strategist for museums and cultural organizations.
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Andrea Kim Neighbors
Andrea Kim Neighbors

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Andrea Kim Neighbors (she/her) currently serves as the Director of Social Impact at Blue Star Families. Previously, she was Head of Education at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), where she collaborated with K12 educators and Asian American and Pacific Islander content specialists to develop APAC’s National Education Program
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Channah Norman
Channah Norman

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Channah Norman is the Chief Counsel for the National Museum of the U.S. Army and its 46 subsidiary museums. Prior to her current role, she was an appellate attorney with the Department of Justice. Read More  


Crystal Sanchez
Crystal Sanchez

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Crystal Sanchez is a media archivist at the Smithsonian Institution on the Digital Asset Management team (DAMS), working with digital collections from across the Smithsonian’s diverse Museums, Archives, Libraries, Research Centers, and the Zoo.
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Jacquelyn Sawyer
Jacquelyn Sawyer

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Jacquelyn Sawyer is a committed arts and non-profit professional who has spent nearly two decades expanding arts and education opportunities for underrepresented groups and underserved communities. Jacquelyn began her career in the Baltimore City Public Schools system, where she taught middle and high school Social Studies.
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Laura Schiavo
Laura Schiavo

Deputy Director, Corcoran; Associate Professor & Graduate Advisor, Museum Studies; Faculty Advisor Museum Studies Program

Before joining the Museum Studies faculty in 2009, Professor Schiavo worked in museums in the DC area, including the City Museum, Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, and the National Building Museum, where she curated Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs of the 1930s.
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Stephanie Schwartz
Stephanie Schwartz

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Stephanie Schwartz is the Founder & CEO of Little Bean Group, a boutique nonprofit fundraising consulting firm based in Washington, DC. She is a nationally recognized leader in philanthropy and thought leader who speaks and writes about nonprofit fundraising and philanthropy.
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Cathy Sigmond
Cathy Sigmond

Professional Lecturer in Museum Studies, Museum Studies Program

Cathy Sigmond is a human-centered researcher with a deep love for experience design. As Head of Strategy at Kera Collective, Cathy leads research studies for museums and designers to help them understand and empathize with their audiences to make human-centered decisions. Read More  


Max van Balgooy
Max van Balgooy

Interim Program Head; Assistant Professor & Graduate Advisor, Museum Studies

Max A. van Balgooy is a national leader in historical interpretation and community engagement, with extensive experience in developing solutions in collaboration with diverse audiences, including volunteers, staff, trustees, residents, scholars, design professionals, business leaders, and elected officials.
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Dave Walker
Dave Walker

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Dave Walker serves as the Audiovisual Archivist at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
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Hilary Morgan Watt
Hilary-Morgan Watt

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Hilary-Morgan Watt is the inaugural Social Media Creative Strategist for the Smithsonian Institution, managing influencer & community partnerships as well as video strategy. Previously Ms. Watt was the Director of Digital Engagement at the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building, as well as Manager of Digital Engagement at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
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photo of john wetenhall standing at a street intersection
John Wetenhall

Director, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum; Associate Professor, Museum Studies

A museum director for over two decades, John Wetenhall served for nine years as Executive Director of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, leading a $150 million capital and endowment transformation.
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Patricia (Patti) Williams
Patricia (Patti) Williams

Professorial Lecturer in Museum Studies

Patti is currently the Head of the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). Before joining NMAH, Patti was an archivist at the National Air and Space Museum Archives most recently as the Deputy Chair of the Department.
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