Alumni

Chelsea Stewart

  • Class

    Class of 2015
  • Program

    B.A. in Classics, B.A. in History, M.A. in History and Museum Studies ( College of Liberal Arts )
  • About

    Chelsea Stewart is the Manager & Curator at Peel Museum & Botanical Garden
Headshot of Chelsea in a red dress standing in front of trees

Alumna Spotlight

Why and when did you decide to major in classics?

During my Senior year of high school, I was fortunate enough to take a trip to Europe and tour several different countries. Italy quickly became one of my favorite places and I was enthralled by the history I saw while there and immediately wanted to learn more.

Please tell us some of your favorite memories from your time at UM

Some of my favorite memories will always be my internship at the University of M Museum and researching the outstanding collection of Greek and Roman objects there. Dr. Becker & Dr. Pasco-Pranger are the professors at UoM who put me on the path of realizing my calling was in the museum field working to preserve and tell the stories of history's objects

How would you summarize your educational/career path since UM?

Once I graduated from UoM, I completed an internship at the Museum on campus while applying to graduate schools. I attended a Masters program at University of North Carolina at Greensboro for History and Museum Studies. From there, I worked in several historic house museums and then worked for the state of MS in the historic preservation department. At that point, I knew my true passion was in research of collections and management of historic house museums. I am currently the Museum Manager & Curator of the Peel Museum & Botanical Garden in Bentonville, AR and I feel very fortunate to have found my dream job. I am currently looking at online Ph.D. programs to be able to continue my education while working. 

What do you see as the value of studying classics in today's world?

The civilizations studied within the subject of Classics form the basis for a lot of the ideals and governments that we see in society today. I believe to have a good understanding of our world today, it is necessary to at least know some things about classical civilizations. I wish all students were required to take a class that covered some of the fundamentals!