At the end of July, Dr. Timothy Kovalcik and Kelly Dolan – an adjunct professor – and three history students, embarked on trip to work in historical museums in Arkansas.

They visited the Benton County Historical Museum in Warsaw, Miss. and Eureka Springs Historical Museum in Eureka Springs, Ark. They spent six days at each of the museums.

These students had a first sight on what Millikin’s prided Performance Learning is in the humanities. Millikin University history students Emily Crutchfield, Taylor Hagerdorn and Brianna Speed received a sample of how working in a museum would be this summer by helping history museums in Benton County, Miss., and Eureka Springs, Ark.

The students worked as museum consultants and worked with professionals to help design the museum’s consultations. The first week of the trip was spent in Benton County, where students helped created a website and Facebook page for the museum.

Dr. Kovalick said, “Neither of these museums had a big budget, and part of the plan was to have Millikin students help do the consultation for them.”

Students who study history have to have good critical thinking and communication skills. For these students those skills were put to the test during this trip.

Emily Crutchfield, a senior from Morton, Ill. said “We were treated like experts and both museums asked for our professional opinions.”

The museum currently highlights Benton County exhibits and collections from the civil war timeframe.

“It’s so valuable, from an academic point of view, to have that professional experience. It was different from being in a classroom setting,” Kovalcik said.

This experience also allowed current Millikin students to connect with alums. One alum students were able to meet was Kelly Dolan. He has his master in historical studies and has worked on many projects since his graduation in 2012. Kovalcik said, “He worked with the Bob Rodgers Company, who helped designed the Lincoln Museum. He has a lot of experience that really helped our students.”

The second half of the trip was spent in Eureka Springs, Ark. During this part of their trip the students worked with museum archives and helped develop ideas on how they should preserve them.

“The students were able to work in professional setting and really work hands on with Millikin’s performance learning idea within in the humanities,” Kovalcik said.

They also got to learn their strengths and weaknesses and how to be a successful museum consultant. Because of this, Kovalcik hopes to create a student consulting business to market to local history museums that will provide student opportunities in future years.

Currently, Millikin University’s history department is trying to develop temporary exhibits at both Benton County and Eureka Springs. Their goal is to return to the museums in spring of 2016.