Brockport Today

Paige Doerner

I am currently working as Marketing Assistant at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, NY. This involves some of the standard responsibilities of a marketing position, such as working with promotional materials, coordinating with tourism agencies, and promoting the museum on social media, but also requires a direct connection with and understanding of the collections and the history of the site, and utilizing this information visually as a means of engaging audiences and visitors.

What got you interested in Anthropology?

When I came to Brockport as a freshman, I already knew that I wanted to be a history major, but I had a very general interest in archaeology that I wanted to further explore. So I took on Anthropology as a minor, and began taking archaeology and anthropology courses. I became more and more interested in anthropology as a discipline, and I really came to appreciate the way that my anthropology coursework and history curriculum complimented each other. I made the decision relatively early on to take on Cultural Anthropology as a major, in addition to my history major, and graduated in 2012 with two degrees that I felt really reflected my interests as a student and my goals as a professional. Through my interest in public history (and my work experience in marketing), I found a way to utilize both degrees in the professional world in the context of museum marketing, which really combines a little bit of everything I enjoy: presenting historical and cultural information to a diverse audience through the use of a material (and digitized) collection.

How would you describe your learning experience as an anthropology major at Brockport?

I had such a fantastic experience within the Anthropology department during my time at Brockport. Being such a small department, I became really familiar with all of my classmates and professors, and found a level of support amongst the department that really made the already fascinating courses that much more enjoyable. It was also during my time as an anthropology major that I took advantage of Brockport’s study abroad program, and traveled to Jordan in 2011 with Dr. Ramsay to work at Petra, an amazing, ancient Nabataean site with a rich material and cultural history. This was a life changing experience for me, and really substantiated my love for material culture and travel. Being an anthropology major was also incredibly fun - being a member of Anthropology Club meant that there were always great activities and trips in the works, and the courses themselves were always completely engaging, whether they focused on New World Archaeology or Ethnography. While I value my entire Brockport experience, I have very fond memories of being an anthropology major.

What are your future plans?

I see myself continuing down the path of museum marketing and digital public history. This is a really interesting niche of the historical community that I was only able to discover as a result of my diverse experimentation with courses, travel, internships, and work experiences at Brockport. My work at the Adirondack Museum allows me to spend every work day in the middle of an incredibly significant historical location, constantly learning about material culture through hands-on experiences, and sharing this knowledge and love for Adirondack history with the museum’s audiences. A degree in Anthropology from Brockport has provided me with so many of the necessary tools to succeed in a professional climate, even in circumstances which don’t relate directly to anthropological work. Every day, I get to share with people my passion for history and culture, both of which I honed during my time as a history and anthropology double major at Brockport.

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