Juilee Decker Headshot

Juilee Decker

Professor

Department of History
College of Liberal Arts
Program Director- Museum Studies
jdgsh@rit.edu
585-475-4206
Office Hours
Office hours resume the week of August 25, 2025. Please use https://calendly.com/jdgsh to schedule.
Office Location
LBR-3303

Juilee Decker

Professor

Department of History
College of Liberal Arts
Program Director- Museum Studies

Education

BA, Wittenberg University; MA, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign; Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University

Bio

Dr. Juilee Decker is Director of the Museum Studies undergraduate degree program and is a faculty member in the Department of History in the College of Liberal Arts. 

Trained as an art historian, Dr. Decker's research and scholarship are at the intersection of museum studies, public history, and technology. 

Dr. Decker is an author, scholar, facilitator, and collaborator in the academy as well as in cultural institutions and communities. At RIT, Dr. Decker is co-PI with Dr. David Messinger (Imaging Science, RIT) on an National Endowment for the Humanities PR-268783-20 (2020-2024) that has created, tested, and iterated a low-cost spectral imaging system and software to recover obscured and illegible text on historical documents. A second NEH grant was awarded in 2025 (PE-303737-25). This multi-year, interdisciplinary effort enhances the work of library, archive, and museum professionals and is only one of the many experiential learning opportunities undertaken by RIT museum studies students under the guidance of faculty from RIT. She also co-directs the Cultural Heritage Imaging Lab. To visit the lab, please email Dr. Decker, jdgsh@rit.edu. To learn more about this initiative, see their website.

Dr. Decker's publications include: 

  • Since 2008, she has served as editor of Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, a peer-reviewed journal published by SAGE.
  • In 2015, she edited the four-volume series Innovative Approaches for Museums which brought together research and practices in the areas of engagement, access, technology, collections care and stewardship, as well as fundraising and strategic planning.
  • In 2017, she revised  Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums, a cornerstone publication in museum studies.
  • In 2019, she published her first monograph, an examination of public art, monuments, memorials and memory in Kentucky: Enid Yandell: Kentucky's Pioneer Sculptor was published by the University Press of Kentucky in 2019.
  • In 2023, she published Fallen Monuments and Contested Memorials (Routledge). In addition to writing the introduction and conclusion for this volume, she authored the chapter "The Disparity Between Us": Rochester’s Frederick Douglass Memorial and its Inscription on the 21st-Century Landscape."
  • In 2024, she co-curated Co-Crafting Democracy with Professor Hinda Mandell. The exhibit will be on view at the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls.
  • The 4th edition of Museums in Motion was released on August 6, 2024. 
jdgsh@rit.edu
585-475-4206
Personal Links
Personal Website
ORCID
Google Scholar
LinkedIn

Select Scholarship

Full Length Book
Decker, Juilee. Museums in Motion: An Introduction to the Histories, Functions, and Aspirations of Museums. 4th ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman, 2024. Print.
Decker, Juilee. Fallen Monuments and Contested Memorials. 1st ed. London, England: Routledge, 2023. Print.
Decker, Juilee. Enid Yandell Kentucky's Pioneer Sculptor. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2019. Print.
Decker, Juilee and Hinda Mandell. Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts & Activism. Rochester, NY: RIT Press, 2019. Print.
Alexander, Edward P., Mary Alexander, and Juilee Decker. Museums in Motion An Introduction to the History and Functions of Museums. 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Print.
Decker, Juilee. Technology & Digital Initiatives: Innovative Approaches for Museums. 1st ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Print.
Decker, Juilee. Engagement and Access: Innovative Approaches for Museums. 1st ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Print.
Decker, Juilee. Collections Care and Stewardship: Innovative Approaches for Museums. 1st ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Print.
Decker, Juilee. Fundraising & Strategic Planning: Innovative Approaches for Museums. 1st ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Print.
Journal Editor
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2024. Web.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2023. Web.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2022. Web.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2022. Web.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2021. Web.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2020. Web.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2019. Web.
Juilee, Decker,, ed. Collections: A Journal for Archives and Museum Professionals. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018. Print.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Print.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. Print.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum & Archives Professionals. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Print.
Decker, Juilee, ed. Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press, 2014. Print.
Invited Keynote/Presentation
Decker, Juilee. "Unveiling the Past: Advancing Knowledge of the Humanities and Special Collections through Multispectral Imaging." Friends of the Library at Sewanee: The University of the South. Sewanee: The University of the South. Sewanee, Tennessee. 25 Mar. 2024. Keynote Speech.
Decker, Juilee, et al. "Multispectral Imaging: Low-Cost and Low Barrier-to-Entry Methods." Archiving 2024 (IS&T). Society for Imaging Science and Technology. Washington, DC. 9 Apr. 2024. Conference Presentation.
Decker, Juilee, Roger L. Easton, Jr., and Izzy Moyer. "From the Medieval to the Modern: Low-Cost and Low Barrier-to-Entry Methods." Fisher Library. University of Toronto, Old Books New Science. Toronto, Canada. 5 Jun. 2024. Guest Lecture.
Decker, Juilee and David W. Messinger. "Illuminating Manuscripts: Democratizing Access to Collections through Multispectral Imaging Technology." Peter Graham Scholarly Commons. Syracuse University. Syracuse, NY. 14 Apr. 2023. Lecture.
Decker, Juilee. "A Low-Barrier-to-Entry Multispectral Imaging System for the Study of Historical Artifacts." Buffalo State University Garman Art Conservation Department. SUNY Buffalo. Buffalo, NY. 23 Oct. 2023. Guest Lecture.
Decker, Juilee. "Re-Inscribing Women: Telling the Stories of Women & Museums, Archives, and Collecting Institutions in the 21st-Century." “Women and Collections” Conference. University of Leiden. Leiden, Netherlands. 18 Mar. 2022. Conference Presentation.
Decker, Juilee and Barbara Wood. "Metrics, Value, and Recognition: Convening Community through Publication." Bridging Research Praxes Across Pluralities of Knowledge. Linkoping University. Linkoping, Sweden. 26 Apr. 2022. Conference Presentation.
Decker, Juilee. "Casting a Legacy: Enid Yandell & Watch Hill’s Chief Ninigret." The Watch Hill Conservancy. The Watch Hill Conservancy. Watch Hill, RI. 21 Aug. 2020. Lecture.
Decker, Juilee. "From Aspiration to Activism: Fiber Arts at Woodlawn from Nelly Custis to Crafting Democracy." Exhibition Closing "Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts & Activism". Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey. Alexandria, VA. 13 Sep. 2020. Keynote Speech.
Decker, Juilee, et al. "Blurring Boundaries and Dissolving Silos: Developing an XR Museum Project in Collaboration." Educators in VR. Educators in VR. virtual, virtual. 20 Oct. 2020. Lecture.
Decker, Juilee. "Enid Yandell: Kentucky’s Pioneer Sculptor." Book Launch. Filson Historical Society. Louisville, KY. 3 Oct. 2019. Lecture.
Decker, Juilee. "The Life and Work of Kentucky’s Pioneer Sculptor, Enid Yandell." Veritas Society. Bellarmine University. Louisville, KY. 4 Oct. 2019. Keynote Speech.
Decker, Juilee. "An almost breathing likeness: Enid Yandell’s Bronze Bust of J. J. Rucker." Georgetown College Visiting Scholar. Georgetown College. Georgetown, KY. 15 Nov. 2019. Lecture.
Decker, Juilee. "Women’s Work: The Legacy Enid Yandell, Kentucky’s Pioneer Sculptor." Speed Art Museum Public Lecture. Speed Art Museum. Louisville, KY. 17 Nov. 2019. Keynote Speech.
Decker, Juilee. "Re-Presenting the Civil War: Monuments and Public Memory in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter." The Legacy of the Civil War. Virginia Commonwealth University. Richmond, VA. 30 Jun. 2016. Lecture.
Decker, Juilee. "Re-Presenting the Civil War: Monuments and Public Memory in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter." The Legacy of the Civil War. Virginia Commonwealth University. Richmond, VA. 14 Jul. 2016. Guest Lecture.
Peer Reviewed/Juried Poster Presentation or Conference Paper
Decker, Juilee and Roger L. Easton, Jr. "Imaging Science for Cultural Heritage." Proceedings of the SciX: Great Scientific Exchange. Ed. n/a. Raleigh, NC: n.p..
Decker, Juilee and Roger L. Easton, Jr. "Accessible Imaging Technology for Humanities Researchers using MISHA (Multispectral Imaging System for Historical Artifacts)." Proceedings of the Old Books New Science Virtual Symposium. Ed. n/a. Toronto, Canada: n.p..
Decker, Juilee, David W. Messinger, and James Falotico. "Build, Select, Reshuffle: Uncovering Distinct Features of Cultural Heritage Objects with Multispectral Imaging." Proceedings of the Archiving 2023. Ed. Society for Imaging Science and Technology. Springfield, VA: https://library.imaging.org/archiving/articles/20/1/38.
Hatch, Landyn, et al. "Reimagining Donor Relations, Special Collections Outreach, and Critical Thinking." Proceedings of the American Library Association. Ed. ALA/RBMS. Bloomington, IN: Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS).
Decker, Juilee and Roger Easton, Jr. "NEH Funding Share Session: Demo by RIT of Low-Cost Spectral Imaging System Created for Discoverability and Accessibility of Historical Documents." Proceedings of the Museum Association of New York Annual Conference. Ed. MANY. Corning, NY: MANY.
Decker, Juilee. "Preparing Students to Address Emerging Issues of the Future ." Proceedings of the CIEL Fall Conference. Ed. Noah Coburn. Tuscaloosa, AL: CIEL.
Decker, Juilee. "Memorials and Museum Practices." Proceedings of the Museums and Race Conference. Ed. Jackie Peterson. virtual, virtual: n.p..
Juilee, Decker,. "Inclusive Museum Practices (House of Mercy Project)." Proceedings of the 2018 Engaged Scholarship & Teaching Faculty Symposium. Ed. NONE. Rochester, NY: n.p..
Shows/Exhibits/Installations
Multiple, . Co-Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts & Activism. Dirs. Juilee Decker and Hinda Mandell. Jun. 2024. National Women\'s Hall of Fame and Museum, Seneca Falls. Exhibit.
Multiple, . Co-Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts & Activism. Dirs. Juilee Decker and Hinda Mandell. Nov. 2024. University Gallery, Rochester. Exhibit.
Multiple, . Breaking Ground. Director. Juilee Decker. 20 Mar. 2024. University Gallery, Rochester. Exhibit.
Various, . Illuminating the Medieval and the Modern through Cultural Heritage Imaging: A Brief History of Innovation and Collaboration at RIT. 30 Sep. 2023. University Gallery, Rochester. Exhibit.
], [. Not Like Any OTHR Design for Another Time. 21 Feb. 2022. RIT University Gallery, Rochester. Exhibit.
], . Clarissa Uprooted: Unearthing Stories of Our Village (1940s-early 1970s). 3 Jun. 2022. RIT City Art Space, Rochester. Exhibit.
Various, . Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. 14 Feb. 2020. Bevier Gallery, Rochester. Exhibit.
Various, . Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. 14 Aug. 2020. Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House, Alexandria, VA. Exhibit.
Various, . Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. 1 Oct. 2020. Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY. Exhibit.
Various, . Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. Director. Juilee Decker. 1 Aug. 2019. Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Rochester. Exhibit.
Various, . Crafting Democracy: Fiber Arts and Activism. Director. Juilee Decker. 29 Nov. 2019. The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH. Exhibit.
Studies, RIT Archives & Museum. The Stories They Tell 6. 3 Oct. 2019. Wallace Library, RIT, Rochester. Exhibit.
Studies, RIT Archives & Museum. The Stories They Tell 5. 3 Oct. 2018. Wallace Library, RIT, Rochester, NY. Exhibit.
contributors, Multiple authors and. Because of Women Like Her: Winning the Vote in New York State. 2 Jun. 2017. Central Library of Rochester & Monroe County, Rochester. Exhibit.
Journal Paper
Decker, Juilee, et al. "Bridging Research Praxes Across Pluralities of Knowledge." Culture Unbound 15. 3 (2023): 3-43. Web.
Decker, Juilee and Barbara Wood. "Reflecting on Shared Practice: Academia and Curatorship." Culture Unbond 15. 3 (2023): 20-23. Web.
Decker, Juilee, et al. "Learning by Doing: Experiential, Interdisciplinary, and Incidental Learning Workflows for AR/VR Museum Experiences." Journal of Interactive Teaching and Pedagogy 17. Focus Issue: Extended Reality (XR) Pedagogies & Applications: Interactive & Immersive Educational Technologies (2020): URL. Web.
Decker, Juilee. "Beyond Cul-de-Sac Pedagogy: Museum Studies as a Landscape of Practice." Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy 26. 2 (2016): 176-193. Print.
Book Chapter
Decker, Juilee. "The Disparity Between Us": Rochester’s Frederick Douglass Memorial and its Inscription on the 21st-Century Landscape." Fallen Monuments and Contested Memorials. Ed. Juilee Decker. London, England: Routledge, 2023. 146-162. Print.
Decker, Juilee, et al. "Bridging Past and Present: Creating and Deploying a Historical Character to Engage Audiences Through AR and VR." Emerging Technologies and the Digital Transformation of Museums and Heritage Sites. Ed. Maria Shehade and Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert. Nicosia, Cyprus: Springer, 2021. 139-155. Web.
Decker, Juilee. "No More ‘Dusty Archive Kitten Deaths’: Discoverability, Incidental Learning, and Digital Humanities." Teaching with Digital Humanities. Ed. Christopher J. Young, et al. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2020. 232-240. Print.
Decker, Juilee. "Enid Yandell (1869–1934): Kentucky’s Frontier Sculptor and ‘Bachelor Maid’." Kentucky Women: Their Lives and Times. Ed. Melissa A. McEuen and Thomas H. Appleton. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2015. 196-218. Print.
Published Conference Proceedings
Decker, Juilee and David W. Messinger. "Under the Hood: Accessible Multispectral Image Processing Software for Historical Document Discovery." Proceedings of the America Institute for Conservation. Ed. JAIC. Washington, DC: n.p., Print.
Messinger, David W. and Juilee Decker. "A low-barrier-to-entry multispectral imaging system for the study of historical artifacts." Proceedings of the Proceedings Volume PC12519, Algorithms, Technologies, and Applications for Multispectral and Hyperspectral Imaging XXIX. Ed. SPIE. Orlando, FL: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2023. Web.
Arnold, Etta, et al. "Multispectral Imaging for Historical Artifacts: A Case Study Using an 8th-Century Biblical Scroll." Proceedings of the EUROGRAPHICS Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage. Ed. R. Pintus and F. Ponchio. Delft, Netherlands: Eurographics Digital Library, 2022. Web.
Buffalin, Michael, et al. "Cultivating Community, Convening, and Collaboration through RIT’s Makerspace." Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces. Ed. ISAM. Atlanta, GA: ISAM, 2022. Web.
Decker, Juilee, et al. "Stitching Together Past and Present: Our Experiences with Costumed Interpretation and Virtual Reality." Proceedings of the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums. Ed. Donna Braden. Dearborn, MI: The Henry Ford, 2021. Print.
Shitut, Kunal, et al. "Triggering the Past: Cultural Heritage Interpretation Using Augmented and Virtual Reality at a Living History Museum." Proceedings of the EUROGRAPHICS Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage. Ed. A. Chalmers and V. Hulusic. Bournemouth, England: Springer, 2021. Web.
Geigel, Joe, Yunn-Shan Ma, and Juilee Decker. "AR Fantasia: An Augmented Reality Musical Experience." Proceedings of the Frameless 2021. Ed. Frameless Publications Committee. Rochester, NY: RIT Scholar Works, 2021. Web.
Decker, Juilee, et al. "Virtual Historic Docent for a Living History Museum." Proceedings of the Frameless Symposium 2019. Ed. Juilee Decker and David Halbstein. Rochester, NY: RIT Scholarworks, 2019. Web.
Invited Article/Publication
Decker, Juilee. "Letting Go: A History of Save Outdoor Sculpture! as a National Crowdsourcing Effort to Document and Preserve Outdoor Sculpture." A History of Heritage Preservation (University of Delaware). (2022). Web.
Decker, Juilee. "How Enid Yandell ‘Leaned In’ and Became a Flagbearer for Occupational Identity and Woman Suffrage." Kentucky Humanities. (2020). Print.
Decker, Juilee and Cheryl Jiménez Frei. "Adapting and Finding Meaning in Uncertain Times: Teaching the Journal of the Plague Year Archive." History@Work blog (National Council on Public History). (2020). Web.
Decker, Juilee. "Tangible and Intangible Heritage in the Age of #TakeItDown." Landmarks. (2019). Print.
Decker, Juilee. "Theory & Praxis: Museum Studies in the 21st Century." Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. (2017). Web.
Decker, Juilee. "Museums in Motion Today." History News. (2017). Print.
Published Review
Decker, Juilee. "Cities, Museums, and Soft Power." Rev. of Cities, Museums, and Soft Power, ed. Jonathan Schroeder. Consumption Markets and Culture 23 Sep. 2016: 1-8. Web.

Currently Teaching

ITDL-210
Vertically Integrated Projects
1 - 3 Credits
Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) engage undergraduate students in long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty. VIP courses are project-based, team-based courses directly supporting faculty research and scholarship. VIPs under this course number have a particular focus on interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences expertise, with membership in teams across RIT colleges.
ITDL-510
Vertically Integrated Projects
1 - 3 Credits
Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) engage undergraduate students in long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty. VIP courses are project-based, team-based courses directly supporting faculty research and scholarship. VIPs under this course number have a particular focus on interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences expertise, with membership in teams across RIT colleges.
ITDL-610
Vertically Integrated Projects
0 - 3 Credits
Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) engage undergraduate students in long-term, large-scale, multidisciplinary project teams that are led by faculty. VIP courses are project-based, team-based courses directly supporting faculty research and scholarship. VIPs under this course number have a particular focus on interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences expertise, with membership in teams across RIT colleges.
MUSE-220
Introduction to Museums
3 Credits
This course examines the history, theory, and practice of museums by situating them as social institutions emerging within their broader historical and cultural contexts, from their origins in the mouseion of the classical era and Renaissance cabinets of curiosities to the modern era’s World’s Fairs and museums of today. The evolution and range of museum functions are addressed. Building on these foundations, the following types of museums and institutions are explored: art and design, natural history, anthropology, science, and history museums, as well as historic houses and sites, botanical gardens, and zoos. In studying the histories and functions of museums through the lenses of social institutions, the course highlights the evolution of museums institutionally, ideologically, and experientially. The course considers the operations of museums, governance, and the professional ethics and legal constraints that affect museum professionals; examines museums and their practices through the perspectives of colonialism and de-colonialization, nationalism, class, gender, ethnicity, anti-racism, and community; and includes field trips to local institutions and on-campus site visits throughout the semester.
MUSE-249
Topics in Archives, Museums, and Community Collections
1 - 3 Credits
Topics courses offer the opportunity to build knowledge specific to events, issues, and opportunities unique to archives, museums, and collecting institutions. Topics and methods vary from term to term, though each offering features an introduction to a concept, methodology, institution, or other subfield of study within museum studies or public history. Students develop theoretical and experiential knowledge of the topic under investigation while fostering opportunities to respond to recent events or to partner with local organizations and institutions. Students also create deliverables appropriate to the experience. The topic will be announced prior to the course offering. The course may be repeated for credit since topics will normally vary from semester to semester.
MUSE-489
Research Methods
3 Credits
This class introduces students to the methods of research appropriate for scholarship in the field of Museum Studies. Students will learn how to locate, analyze, assess, critique and conduct research in the field. They will choose the topic of their senior thesis project, develop a clear statement of how that topic will be explored, and construct an annotated bibliography relevant to that topic. This course leads to the development of a proposal for a senior thesis project that is suitable for full implementation in Senior Thesis for museum studies.
MUSE-490
Senior Thesis in Museum Studies
3 Credits
The Senior Thesis in Museum Studies is the final requirement in the degree program. Students will conduct the appropriate research to address the topic they had proposed in Research Methods. They will present their results as a formal written thesis and in an appropriate public forum. The course provides students the opportunity to develop their research and practical skills and to share the results with the department and the college.
MUSE-497
Museum Studies Internship
0 Credits
Internship in a field related to Museum Studies (at least 50 hours). Students will apply the accumulated knowledge, theory, and methods of the discipline to problem solving outside of the classroom.
MUSE-599
Independent Study
1 - 12 Credits
A program of study executed by an individual student with assistance and guidance by an instructor, outside a classroom setting. Guidelines for designing and gaining approval for an independent study are provided in College of Liberal Arts Policy I.D.

In the News

  • November 19, 2025

    High-resolution scanner digitizing an illuminated manuscript page.

    RIT innovation helps illuminate lost history

    The goal of libraries, museums, and archives around the world is to safeguard historical documents, but some objects can deteriorate with time. RIT’s Cultural Heritage Imaging (CHI) lab is using funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop a relatively low-cost system that makes cultural heritage imaging methods more accessible.

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