Director’s Welcome

Museums have the power to transform—they open up distant worlds, shape new ideas, and reflect, retool, and amplify narratives of community, history, art, and culture. For more than two decades, the Museum Studies Program and Exhibition Design Initiative have shaped the professional journeys of UTEP MUSE students. I am honored to have been named the new Director of the UTEP Museum Studies Program and I am dedicated to building on the legacy of this program, to envision new avenues for our future growth and to help the next generation of Borderlands museum professionals grow.

As an anthropological art historian with a specialty in Mesoamerican hieroglyphic writing, my academic work is deeply tied to museums, archaeological collections, and artifact stewardship. As a lead contract researcher with the Smithsonian Institution’s Central American Ceramics Research Project, I had the opportunity to conduct collections research and develop exhibition script for the National Museum of the American Indian. I have explored collections and conducted research at institutions in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and across the United States. I aim to channel these experiences into my role as MUSE Director and to extend my interdisciplinary background into supporting MUSE students from across all of UTEP’s Colleges and Major programs of study.

Over the past fifteen years, I have lived in New Haven, Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; Savannah, Georgia; and Indianapolis, Indiana. My family and I are excited to plant roots in El Paso and to become a part of this dynamic, beautiful city. I hope you will join me in fostering UTEP’s Museum Studies Program, whether as a student, community partner, or patron—I can’t wait to begin this journey together.

Sincerely,

Dr. Strauss