UNIVERSITY MUSEUM

The University Museum has been an integral part of the Fayetteville academic community since 1873. It develops and maintains extensive collections in archaeology, ethnography, geology, history, physical anthropology, and zoology. The entirety is generally available for exhibition, research, education, and/or loan. Many of the collections are more suitable as educational and research tools rather than exhibition materials. Only a small fraction of the collections is exhibited at any one time, but exhibitable collections not included in the regular exhibits are used in traveling and other specialized exhibits to give greater exposure of the collections, to provide variety and interest for viewers at various locations in the community, and to enhance area educational programs.

The University Museum provides facilities and personnel support for specialization in anthropological museology within the M.A. degree program in anthropology. Appropriate Museum collections are assembled on request for University classes in the natural and social sciences, art, and classics. Museum specimens and their associated documentation are available for comparative and research purposes by University faculty, qualified students, and visiting scholars. Some Museum staff members have research or administrative responsibilities in their areas of specialization, teach in the museology program offered through the Department of Anthropology, or serve as guest lecturers in University courses.

The University Museum fulfills its public service and outreach mission with loans of collections to other institutions for exhibit, consultation services to other museums, conservation advice to the public, interpretive tours for visiting groups, discovery classes for students, field trips and workshops for adults, discovery room for school groups and general visitors, and public information services. The Museum Building houses exhibits, exhibit preparation shops, discovery room, educational areas, and administrative offices. Registration and curatorial facilities are in Vol Walker Hall where all the study collections are kept. Research and special laboratories are located in University House. The University Museum is a unit of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.