Photo by Miguel Montalvo
Diana E. Marsh
I am an Assistant Professor of Archives and Digital Curation at the University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies (iSchool). I study how heritage institutions share knowledge with the public and communities. I am also Past Chair of the Native American Archives Section of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and current appointee to the SAA’s new Archival Repatriation Committee. My current research focuses on improving discovery and access to colonially-held archives for Native American and Indigenous communities. I primarily teach in the iSchool’s MLIS program. I’m also a founding member of the Center for Archival Futures (CAFe) and the Recovering and Reusing Archival Data lab, which I co-run with Katrina Fenlon and Victoria Van Hyning. See my iSchool profile here: https://ischool.umd.edu/about/directory/diana-e-marsh
I am leading an IMLS-funded project to use Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) to address Indigenous “archival diaspora” and discoverability. I am also working with Katrina Fenlon on an NSF-funded project to more broadly address discovery and recontextualization of anthropology’s archives (dovetailing ongoing work with Ricardo Punzalan to revitalize the Council for the Preservation of Anthropological Records).
From 2017–2020, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives (National Museum of Natural History). At the Smithsonian, I led a three-year NSF-funded project to research the use, access, and discoverability of the NAA's archival collections. I am currently writing up that work as well as a project with the American Philosophical Society's Center for Native American and Indigenous Research to collect stories about the uses and effects of digitized ethnographic collections for Native and Indigenous communities.
From 2015–2017, I was an Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellow at the American Philosophical Society where I researched and curated exhibitions drawing primarily on archival collections (Curious Revolutionaries: The Peales of Philadelphia, April–December 2017, and Gathering Voices: Thomas Jefferson and Native America, April–December 2016). In 2014–2015, I was a Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow in Museum Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where I taught courses in museology. I completed my PhD in Anthropology at UBC in 2014. For my dissertation project, I conducted an ethnography of exhibition planning at the National Museum of Natural History. Prior to that, I completed my MPhil in Social Anthropology with a Museums and Heritage focus at the University of Cambridge in 2010, and a BFA in Visual Arts and Photography at the Mason Gross School of the Arts of Rutgers University in 2009.
My work has appeared in The American Archivist, Archival Science, Archivaria, Archival Outlook, and Museum Anthropology. My book, Extinct Monsters to Deep Time: Conflict, Compromise, and the Making of Smithsonian’s Fossil Halls, was published in 2019 with Berghahn Books, and has just been released in paperback.
Email me at dmarsh(at)umd.edu
Education
2014 Ph.D. Anthropology, (Museum Anthropology), University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC.
2010 M.Phil. Social Anthropological Analysis (Museums & Heritage focus), Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
2009 B.F.A. Visual Arts, Photography concentration; Cultural Anthropology double major, Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, New Brunswick NJ, 3.95 GPA, summa cum laude, Dean’s List all semesters.
Professional Appointments
2020–
Assistant Professor of Archives and Digital Curation, College of Information Studies (iSchool), University of Maryland.
2017–2020
Postdoctoral Fellow in Anthropological Archives, National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
2015–2017
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow, American Philosophical Society.
2014–2015
Postdoctoral Research & Teaching Fellow, Museum Anthropology, UBC Department of Anthropology.
2014–2017
Research Associate, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH), Smithsonian Institution, Oct 2014–Oct 2017.
Grants
Building a sustainable future for anthropology’s archives: Researching primary source data lifecycles, infrastructures, and reuse
Diana Marsh (PI) and Katrina Fenlon (Co-PI)
2023-2026, Cultural Anthropology Program, National Science Foundation, NSF BCS 2314762, $349.9K
Indigenizing Archival Training: A Pilot Certificate Program
Rana Salzman (PI), Diana E. Marsh (co-PI), Selena Ortega-Chiolero (co-PI), V. Begay, R. Buchanan, E. Hung, S. Meier, R. Menyuk, L. Norton-Wisla, L. Posas, J. Pringle, M. Stoner, N. Topich
2023-2024, Public Knowledge Program, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, $98K
Inverting Indigenous Archival Structures: Increasing Discoverability for Indigenous Communities through SNAC
Diana Marsh (PI)
2022-2025, Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program (Early Career Research Development), RE252311OLS22, $496K
Processing the Pioneering Work of Women ‘Trowelblazers’: Increasing Access and Promoting New Role Models
Diana Marsh (PI), Joshua Bell (Co-PI), Colleen Popson (Co-PI), Molly Kamph (Co-PI)
2020, American Women’s History Initiative, $60K
Archaeological Legacies in Motion: Digitizing Silent Films from the Beloit College 1930 Archaeological Expeditions to North Africa at the Human Studies Film Archives
Pam Wintle (Co-PI) & Diana Marsh (Co-PI)
2020, Smithsonian Women’s Committee, $20.3K
Beatrice Medicine’s Archives at the National Anthropological Archives: Providing Access to the Papers of a Prolific Indigenous Anthropologist, Native Rights Activist, and Women’s Advocate
Diana Marsh (Co-PI) & Katie Duvall (Co-PI)
2019, Smithsonian Women’s Committee, $20K
Digitization and Promotion of Smithsonian Archival Women’s Collections for the Smithsonian Transcription Center
Caitlin Haynes et. al (co-wrote section to support digitization of Stanley Ann Dunham’s papers)
2019, Smithsonian Women’s Committee, $60K
Researching the Digital Turn
Diana Marsh (PI)
2017, Phillips Fund for Native American Research, American Philosophical Society, $3K
Borders: Anthropology and Museums in the Age of Mobility
Gwyneira Isaac (PI) and Diana Marsh (Co-PI)
2016–2017, Wenner-Gren Foundation Workshop Grant, $20K
Revitalizing CoPAR (the Council on the Preservation of Anthropological Records) for the Digital Age
Ricardo Punzalan (PI) and Diana Marsh (Co-PI)
2015–2016, Wenner-Gren Foundation Workshop Grant, $20K
Fellowships
National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Anthropological Archives
2017–2020, National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellowship
2015–2017, American Philosophical Society
Postdoctoral Research & Teaching Fellowship
2014–2015, UBC Department of Anthropology
Smithsonian Visiting Student (Deep Time) Fellowship
2012–2013, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Four-Year Fellowship
2010–2014, University of British Columbia
Board Membership
2019–2020
Native American Archives Section Steering Committee
Society of American Archivists
2015–2020
Secretary, Council for Museum Anthropology
American Anthropological Association
2016–2019
Peale Center Board of Directors
Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture, Baltimore, MD.
2012–
Museum of Anthropology External Advisory Board
University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC.
Awards
American Anthropological Association Leadership Fellow
2017 - 2018, American Anthropological Association
ATALM Conference Scholarship
2017, Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums
Gretchen Worden Memorial Award for Professional Development
May 2016, Museum Council of Greater Philadelphia
Lord Baltimore Research Fellowship
2016 - 2017, Maryland Historical Society
Volkswagen Foundation Travel Grant to attend Symposium, “Positioning Ethnological Museums in the 21s Century”
June 2015, Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover Germany
Michael Ames Scholarship in Museum Studies
May 2013, UBC Museum of Anthropology (MOA)
Arts Graduate Research Award
May 2013, UBC
Council for Museum Anthropology (CMA) Annual Student Travel Grant Prize
September 2011, CMA of the American Anthropological Association
CASCA Annual Student Travel Grant Prize
May 2011, Canadian Anthropological Society (CASCA)