Colleen Foran
By Zoë Eitel
Colleen Foran always wanted to work for a museum, so she majored in history of art and architecture at DePaul. It was her adviser–a professor of African art–who helped her find her specialization. When Colleen visited the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C., it was further solidified.
She fell in love with the Smithsonian, so she applied to work there after graduation. She was hired first as an intern for the “Earth Matters: Land as Material and Metaphor in the Arts” exhibit and found herself working on the catalog for it, which then led her to be hired on as an editorial assistant and then as an advancement associate and writer/editor.
Something Colleen says she appreciates about DePaul as an alumna is that her professors still remember her and are willing to help and advise her when she emails them. The personal approach that professors take with their classes and students stuck out to Colleen and has helped her move forward in her career and education.
““The fact that DePaul is a teaching oriented university was really appealing to me: small class sizes taught by the actual professors, not TAs, and professors who are invested in you and remember who you are,” Colleen explains. “Having highly trained, skilled professionals in their fields teach every single class, grade every single paper, meet for every single office hour was so valuable and the connections that I built with them have lasted over quite a few years now in ways that have had absolutely tangible benefits to myself.”
Former Advancement Associate/Writer/Editor at Smithsonian National Museum of African Art
BA History of Art and Architecture 2012
Another important thing to Colleen’s education was the location of the college, especially for someone wanting to pursue museum work. She explains that her professors always encouraged students to visit the many museums in Chicago.
“Having highly trained, skilled professionals in their fields teach every single class, grade every single paper, meet for every single office hour was so valuable and the connections that I built with them have lasted over quite a few years now in ways that have had absolutely tangible benefits to myself.”
Beyond that, Colleen says that the Chicago Quarter course she took early in her education really helped her explore her surroundings and opened up the city to her.
“I really enjoyed Chicago Quarter and that it was a way to push students to get more familiar with Chicago instead of always staying on campus,” she says. “My time in it definitely gave me a broader experience. I visited and discovered places I wouldn’t have otherwise known about.”
Colleen has made herself available to mentor and give advice to DePaul students through the ASK Network, which was a recommendation from a professor in her department. She says she has given a few students tips on applying to museum internships, specifically at the Smithsonian.
Even though art history might not be what DePaul is most well-known for, Colleen says she loved the experience at DePaul and the education she got from the program.
“I had amazing classes across the board that were always really socially engaged and interesting classes taught by people who didn’t exclusively use jargon,” she says. “Both the quality of education was great and the opportunities offered by the city itself were really crucial.”
