Meggie Macdonald

I had my interview this morning with Mr. Paul Denis, curator of the Greek and Roman Collections at the Royal Ontario Museum, to work out the pragmatic details of getting my application accepted for the KM internship. We discussed how vital it was for the growing ‘cultural renaissance’ of Toronto as well as the new plans for the Roman gallery at the ROM once the Crystal extension is completed.

If the KM scholarship is successful, I would be cataloguing a series of gifts, donations, and bequests made to the ROM in the form of Roman glass (intact or otherwise), late fifth century red-figure pottery sherds, and (possibly) Merovingian metal artifacts. He took me through a couple of the Greek and Roman storage rooms and, in addition to being spellbound by the semi-luminescent glass and beautiful sherds, we had a look at some busts, some large Attic pots and a series of other artifacts of Merovingian, Visigothic, and Celtic origin. The first thing Mr. Denis showed me was rather interesting and something I was unable to identify – votive objects, certainly, decorated in fifth century ceramic style from Attica, but were something akin to but clearly not human beings. Their bodies were rudimentary and flat, they had two arms and two legs, but their heads were elongated and they had prominent noses, making them look very much like cartoon characters.

Overall it was a wonderful and humbling experience. If my application for this internship is successful, I will have some catching up to do to get the basics re-stored in my brain again. I can’t wait!

York University is offering a Knowledge Mobilization Summer Internship Opportunity for students to volunteer at an institution within their community that will utilize their skills and research interests and give them a valuable learning experience through volunteer work. The beauty about this program is that, unlike most drives to promote volunteering in one’s community, KM is aware that most students also need to make a living while complementing their resumes or CVs. So, it is offering a $6000 stipend for 2 months full-time or 4 months part-time to students whose applications are successful.

I have decided to pursue this opportunity and have an interview scheduled with Mr. Paul Denis at the Royal Ontario Museum early next week to discuss the internship program as well as what he is looking for from a volunteer at the ROM.

Many thanks to Taber James and Jack Holladay for insisting that, while working for them at UofT in my fourth undergraduate year, I handle artifacts for scanning, cataloguing, and databasing since this is one of the things Mr. Denis mentioned drew his attention on my CV. Not only was it hands-on, but I learned an important detail about myself that otherwise could have been very damaging to artifacts in the future. I have very acidic sweat and thus must wear protective gloves or perpetually dry my hands on paper towel while handling artifacts. Otherwise the acid will degrade the artifacts and affect everything from carbon dating to the longevity of the piece.

And the application process continues…