Docent
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A docent (the word being derived from the Latin word ducere, meaning to lead) is officially defined as a professor or university lecturer, but the term has been expanded to designate the corps of volunteer guides who staff many of the museums and other educational institutions in the world. Docents are educators, trained to further the public's understanding of the cultural and historical collections of the institution. In many cases, docents, in addition to their prescribed function as guides, also conduct research utilizing the institution's facilities.
Prospective docents generally undergo an intensive training process, at the expense of the educational institution, which teaches them good communicative and interpretive skills, as well as introduces them to the institution's collection and its historical significance. They are also provided with reading lists to add to the basic information provided during training, and must then shadow experienced docents as they give their tours before ultimately conducting a tour on their own. Docents are kept up-to-date with continuous training and seminars.
Docents can be found at many institutions, including local and national museums, zoos, historical landmarks, and parks.
In Germany, those who have passed Habilitation, may apply for the post of Privatdozent in a university. In practice, this means research work equivalent of a second doctor's thesis. Similar positions exist in other countries touched by the German university tradition. In Turkey, doçent is an academic title between the assistant professor and the full professor. In Russia, Poland, and Hungary, as in Turkey, it is an academic title immediately below that of a full professor (Hungarian docens). It is equivalent to reader in the UK and the associate professor in USA as well as Latvia. In Finland and Sweden, docent (Finnish dosentti, Swedish docent), is a title conferred to a person fulfilling requirements similar to German Privatdozent. Such persons are usually expected to give lectures on their specialties if their professional activities permit this.
