I think that most of this next year will be focused on broadening my career. A few days ago, I happened across this website for a management and development of cultural heritage doctoral program. As I reviewed the program, I realized again that this is the kind of work I want to do – finding business models that are geared toward the preservation and cultivation of unique aspects of culture. Special collections libraries (such as mine), literature, architecture and landscapes, neighborhoods, museums, cultural activities and programming, visual arts of all types, and urban planning all fall under my areas of interest.
I’m interested in these areas of the human experience because they make life, well…interesting. But only if their applications are thoughtful and deliberate. Maybe it’s my own cynicism and perhaps I should only speak for myself, but so much of what is fed to us through our senses in this country has a kind of banality attached to it. We just consume all the tangible and intangible stuff that comes our way without ever giving it much thought. And that’s because it isn’t worth thinking about. As a result, I feel a strong pull to find those aspects of life that have genuine purpose - to find the elements that give life its texture and richness. That’s what having culture, real culture, means to me.
So, I’m going to begin 2010 by studying along with my peers in that Italian doctoral program. I’ll be reading a book that covers an introduction to art philosophy, another that’s an introduction to environmental aesthetics, and a book about the economics of art and culture. I want to discover what parts of our culture really matter, and to find what business opportunities surround their preservation and promotion. I’ll be sure to write about what I learn. I’m looking forward to a year well spent.
