Author: Meghan Lucas | Major: History Anthropology | Semester: Summer 2024

Driving past Loch Lohmond

This summer I took part in the eight-week program of Arcadia Abroad Museums Studies Internship Program in Edinburgh, Scotland. I knew before I came to the University of Arkansas I wanted to study abroad. It was one of the many reasons I decided to become a student at this
university. Ever since my first semester in 2022 I have been eager to find a program that would be the perfect fit for my passions. I first encountered this program in the Spring of 2023 when I was researching programs to do
that summer. When I discovered the Arcadia Abroad Museum Studies Internship Program, I became very excited. I study history and anthropology at the University of Arkansas and have always been interested in museum studies. I hope to have a career in it. Unfortunately, the university does not have a museum studies program, so this experience abroad seemed the perfect way to expose myself to museum studies.

The application process was the most difficult and lengthy process of this experience. As I
mentioned, I first found this program in the early Spring of 2023 but there would have been no
way I could have participated in that program that summer. While both Arcadia University and
the University of Arkansas were extremely helpful in this process, the various requirements were
hard to meet for someone who had never done a study abroad experience, applied for a visa, and
more of the various things needed to go abroad. I am grateful that I had another year to prepare
for those steps and meet the qualifications of the application process.
Once the stresses of administrative duties were finished, I could finally be excited to experience
this trip. The Arcadia Abroad Museum Studies Internship Program had four main components:
three courses and an internship. During the first four weeks I was there, I took part in two
courses, one was a course on Scottish History and the other was a Scottish Curation class. The
Scottish History course was in a typical lecture style, but because Edinburgh is rich in
architectural history, we also took multiple field trips to relate to the material of the course. The
Scottish Curating course involved taking field trips to various museums and heritage sites around
the cities of Scotland to experience and critique the operations and portrayals of Scottish History.
These trips were among my favorite parts of my experience. I was able to see the iconic
landmarks and typical tourist destinations of Scotland including Edinburgh Castle, Stirling
Castle, and the National Museum of Scotland, but we also went to locations that I would not
have been able to go to on my own including Kellie Castle, The Burrell Collection, and the
National Museum’s Collection Center.
The last four weeks were as a part of an internship program at the Georgian House. This
internship involved learning the history of the house and its owners and telling it to visitors,
shadowing staff to understand the operations of a heritage house, and conducting my research.
There was a combined internship course at the Arcadia Center in Edinburgh that centered on the
research process. The Georgian House was a heritage house that recreated the history of
Charlotte Square, a historically important part of New Town Edinburgh. Researching at the
Georgian House was exciting not only because I was surrounded by artifacts, but also because
the staff and volunteers were very knowledgeable on my research topics.
While I knew that this experience would be beneficial to my studies, I never anticipated how
personally life-changing it would be. In addition to the course load, I took many personal day
trips around Scotland, including a trip to Glencoe and Loch Ness and another to London, and
tried to immerse myself in the culture. While studying abroad, if you want to do a lot, you
experience a lot of things alone. It can feel lonely at first, but once you start branching out and
talking to people at the restaurant you are at or at the park, it can become a thrilling experience.
You learn that you can do really big things alone and that it’s enjoyable and self-assuring. If I had
any advice for something thinking about or wanting to study abroad it would be two things. The
first is to start your application early. Deadlines creep up really fast and there are many in the
process that you cannot miss. The second, and most important, is to say yes to everything and
speak to people that live there. I learned so many new things about people, their opportunities,
and the ways that people can live. This experience was once in a lifetime and going to be a fond
memory I look back on forever.