Public Programs @ the Institute
Series: Judith Praska Distinguished Visiting Professor in Conservation and Technical Studies Lecture Series
Nancy Odegaard, The Beyond the Bench: The Conservation Discipline in Other Contexts
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 6:00pm
A career in conservation is based on responses. For those in academia, the responses are framed as research, education, service, and program management. Conservators react to object damage, disaster recovery, technical study, and various ethical or legal issues. Working as an objects conservator, one may be asked to be an active part of archaeological excavations, collections management, repatriation, exhibitions, and loans. The collaborations may involve the departments of art history, anthropology, classics, historic preservation, chemistry, and materials science. This lecture will explore some of the influencing factors and outputs of a rewarding career in conservation. Examples will draw from work with the sensitive and current issues surrounding human remains and their belongings, the determination and removal of toxic pesticides on museum objects, and the recovery and identification of stolen art.
Dr. Nancy Odegaard is a faculty conservator-professor emerita at the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona. For 38 years, she was also a faculty member teaching courses through the Departments of Anthropology, Material Science, Historic Preservation, and Chemistry. Her work has included major projects involving survey, examination, analysis, new treatment methodologies, on-site excavation, museum renovation, the supervision and mentoring of students, repatriation, and stakeholder collaborations.
Odegaard received degrees in Art History, Museum Studies/Anthropology; she received an Advanced Certificate in Conservation from the Smithsonian Institution and a PhD in Resource and Heritage Science from the University of Canberra. In 2016, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Gothenburg Sweden for her contributions to conservation education.
In addition to numerous articles, chapters, and project reports, her authored books include: A Guide to Handling Anthropological Museum Objects (WAAC); Material Characterization Test for Objects of Art and Archaeology (Archetype); Old Poisons New Problems: Information and Resource Guide for Contaminated Cultural Materials in Museum Collections (AltaMira); Human Remains: A Guide for Museums and Academic Institution (AltaMira); A Visual Dictionary of Decorative and Domestic Arts (Rowman & Littlefield); and a forthcoming second edition of Old Poisons, New Problems (Bloomsbury).
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