Meg Swaney was a sensation as a 2013 Threesis finalist. Today, Meg is a second-year doctoral student in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where she studies Egyptian Art and Archaeology. “I wasn’t always planning on getting my Ph.D.,” Swaney explains, “but I’ve always had a long-time interest in archaeology and Egyptian art.” Meg began her academic career at the University of Chicago, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology and soon realized that her ultimate goal was to be a curator at a museum working with Egyptian art. “Initially, I wanted to work in a natural history museum,” she recalls, “but I loved working with Egyptian art and just knew that I wanted to pursue that forever.”
After earning her bachelor’s degree in 2011, she started thinking about graduate programs that would be integral to her end-goal of becoming a curator. “What really attracted me to the GSAS program in Museum Studies was its practicality and professionalism,” Meg observed. “The types of classes and projects were all geared towards what comes after the program, which made me a very marketable candidate for doctoral programs.” During her time at GSAS, she had the opportunity to work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and the Museum of Chinese in America. Working at such a wide range of institutions helped her explore her interest in the history and science of museums.
Her 2013 Threesis project, “The Living Dead: Egyptian Mummies and the Ethics of Display,” looked at how different museums display Egyptian art and mummies, and how the context of those displays affect visitors and their experiences. “I did the Threesis, and it was amazing!” Meg recalls not feeling too competitive about the challenge, but incredibly supported. “It was so great to share all of my hard work and my passions to a room of people…I didn’t think anyone was going to care about my research, but I felt so encouraged, and such a strong sense of respect and professionalism, both from the audience and from GSAS.” Now, as a second-year Ph.D. student, she has spent the last two seasons working with her adviser on excavations at the Temple of Mut at Karnak in modern Luxor.
Learn more about the dig here
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