Jeremy Maron
PhD in Cultural Mediations (2011)
- What field of work are you in, and what duties are required in your position?
I am a Curator at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a National Museum in Winnipeg, MB. In this role, my primary responsibility is to develop content for exhibitions related to the Holocaust, genocides and other instances of historical atrocity, as well as content on the growth of international human rights law and social movements since the Second World War. [Check out Jeremy’s blog at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights website.]
- What challenges did you face when looking for work after graduating?
I knew towards the end of my degree that I did not want to pursue a career in academia proper. With this in mind, the most significant challenge was adapting a description of my mostly academic experiences—that I was used to presenting in an academic CV—for jobs outside of academia.
- How did you arrive at your current position?
My PhD was focused on Canadian films on the Holocaust, and right around the time I was finishing, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights was looking for a Research Assistant (I was promoted to Curator a year later) with a background in Holocaust representation in a Canadian context. So while this was very well-suited to my experience, I can’t overstate the role of fortuitous timing.
- What advice would you give to a graduate student looking to follow a career path similar to yours?
Try to take opportunities to broaden your experiences and focus, even in the midst of working on a very focused dissertation. Take as wide an array of classes as possible, and try to gain experience and knowledge that will complement your primary area of study. You never know what might make you stand out in future job competitions, and the wider range of different experiences that you can draw on, the better. And if your goal is to work in an institution that presents information to the general public, try to make opportunities for yourself to participate in such broad public dissemination while in grad school.