Teaching & Tutoring
Experience
Center for Excellence in Teaching, Boston University
(February 2009 - present)
Organizing an initiative to support teachers of first-year students.
Girls Incorporated, Lynn, MA
(January - September 2008)
Academic program specialist for middle-school girls.
Instructor for Architecture, Engineering and Design summer course
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
(January 2004 – December 2006)
Museum Educator for SALEM in History program.
"Project Launch," RAW Art Works in Lynn, MA (2004-2006)
Mentor for students wishing to attend college
Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA
(September 2001 – May 2004 )
Instructor for History of Art I and History of Art II courses.
Art Institute of Boston at Lesley College, Boston, MA
(July 2001 and 2002)
Instructor for art history and appreciation courses for pre-college program.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
(1994 - 1995; 1997 - 2001)
Exhibition Project Administrator for American Folk (April 8, 2001 August 5, 2001), and Dangerous Curves: Art of the Guitar (November 5, 2000 – February 25, 2001).
Boston Center for Adult Education, Boston, MA
(May 1996 – 1999)
Instructor. Served on leaders advisory board 1997-1998.
National Heritage Museum, Lexington, MA
(March 1998 – Sept. 1998)
Researcher for special projects.
The Bostonian Society, Boston, MA
(September – December 1995)
Museum Services/Education Associate at the Old State House Museum.
Boston Partners in Education, Boston, MA
(September 1994 – May 1995)
Tutor in Boston Public School System.
Selected Publications
"Salem in History: Digitizing the Past" (2006) online at:
CG Publisher Website.
Educator's Guide for the Peabody Essex Museum's American Collections (2006)
Salem in History website (completed 2006)
Spice Trade articles featured in Calliope Magazine
February 2006
Co-author, American Folk exhibition catalog, March, 2001. Published by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
“The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Museum Building, Museum Changing” published in conference proceedings from The Long Run.
Selected Lectures
Academic Lectures:
"K-12 sequencing of topics and methodology using primary sources from PEM and other local institutions" workshop presented at the Northeast Regional Conference on the Social Studies, Boston, Massachusetts, March 15, 2006.
“Scholarship and Popularity: Challenges in Museum Missions in Education” presented in the panel, Preparing Art Historians for Museum Work at the College Art Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February, 2001.
Public Lectures:
"A Little Salem Ship in a Large National Context: Salem’s Connection to the Gold Rush" presented to the Salem Historical Society, 11 March 2008. The focus for my interactive discussion was the research process, historiography, and source evaluation. Read related news article.
Lesson Plans
Abaigeal has completed a number of lesson plans for K-12 students on a variety of subjects. A number of them will be posted on this website soon.
Film Projects
Old Places, New Faces: Immigrant Experiences Shaping Boston's North Shore (January 2008). Research consultant and production manager for North Shore Immigrant Community Film. Read a review.
Exploring Salem's Past: The Polish Community in Salem. (June 2006). Production manager.
Current Research
Abaigeal is currently completing her Ph.D. thesis on the 1849 Gold Rush voyage of barque La Grange from Salem to California. Read an excerpt from a report on her research at the Phillips Library as the first Frances E. Malamy Research Fellow.
Education
Education: Boston University, Boston, MA
American Studies (American Art) A.B.D. awarded April, 1996
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
American Studies (American Art) B.A., magna cum laude, 1992
