Museum Professions Student Gains Hands-On Experience During Internship at Mercer Museum

Erin Demczyszyn, a second-year student in the M.A. in Museum Professions program, completed an internship this past summer at the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The museum collects and preserves pre-Industrial Revolution artifacts to interpret American life before automation and industry.

Demczyszyn worked with the curatorial and exhibition departments at the museum and was responsible for visitor evaluation on the museum’s new exhibition, The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution, which tells the story of a group of Loyalists from Bucks County, PA, that resisted the Revolution.

Originally from Quakertown, PA, Demczyszyn received her bachelor's degree in costume design and history from DeSales University. As a Museum Professions student, she studies a variety of topics that are important for a future career working in a museum, such as collections management, exhibition design and museum education. She chose this program because of the ability to focus on a specific area, as her interest is having a career in museum registration.

This internship allowed Demczyszyn to gain experience with the public-facing aspects of working in a museum, as she worked closely with visitors at the Mercer Museum. She was responsible for visitor timing, tracking and surveying in the exhibit. "I created and implemented a timing and tracking study and a visitor survey. The timing and tracking study was designed to show how long visitors spent in the exhibition," she explained. "The visitor survey was designed to gather information about how visitors heard about the exhibition, what they thought of it, what they were taking away from it, and how it could be improved."

The survey assisted the museum in understanding the visitor experience and improving the exhibit to be more accessible to the community. Demczyszyn said that this helped to provide her experience in working directly with visitors and allowed her to connect with the community. "My favorite part of the internship was connecting with visitors. More people were willing, and even excited, to take the survey than I was expecting. The visitors I got to speak with were so passionate about their local history," she said.

Demczyszyn said that she was grateful for her time as an intern at the Mercer Museum, and that she appreciated being able to work with the local community. The Doan Gang: Outlaws of the Revolution exhibition is available to view at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA, until December 31, 2026. 

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Launched in Summer 2023, Seton Hall’s College of Human Development, Culture, and Media (CHDCM) embodies the University’s commitment to pedagogical innovation, intellectual ferment and community engagement. Uniting scholars and students from four dynamic departments — Communication, Media, and the Arts; Education Leadership, Management, and Policy; Educational Studies; and Professional Psychology and Family Therapy — the College is the new home of cutting-edge, transdisciplinary inquiry into the stickiest problems of our time.

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Categories: Arts and Culture