District of Columbia

The George Washington University

Type of education program: 
Program name: 
Museum Studies Program
Museum Education Program
Master of Arts in Jewish Cultural Arts

Programs pertinent to careers in museum settings include the following:

  • MA in Museum Studies
  • Certificate in Museum Studies
  • Certificate in Museum Collections Management and Care (a distance learning program)
  • Graduate Certificate in Exhibit Design
  • MA in Museum Education
  • MA in Jewish Cultural Arts

 

The MA in Museum Studies Program combines academic and museum studies courses with practical museum training. Students enrolled in the MA program can concentrate in collections management, exhibition development/design, or museum management and leadership. Students may also choose to focus their academic core in American studies, anthropology, or history. The MA program also allows students the flexibility to do an interdisciplinary concentration for their academic core. To apply for the MA program, applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree.

 

The Certificate in Museum Studies is an on-campus program that is designed for U.S. students who already hold at least a master’s degree in a related area or for foreign museum professionals who wish to study one or more aspects of museum work in the United States.  Coursework includes Collections Management, Exhibition Development/Design, and Museum Management and Leadership.

 

The Exhibit Design Graduate Certificate Program provides working professionals in museum exhibit design, architecture, interior design, or production design with the tools to meet the increasing demand for dynamic, sophisticated exhibits by museums, trade shows, and other entities. The 18-credit program offers a comprehensive approach to learning that combines three disciplines: museum studies, interior design, and theatre and dance.   The Exhibit Design Certificate Program at GW provides working professionals training in critical design and logistical skills to effectively produce dynamic exhibits. This unique program brings together the three disciplines of Museum Studies, Interior Design, and Theater and Dance.

 

The Distance Education Certificate in Museum Collections Management and Care features four graduate-level courses designed for those working or volunteering in museums with collections management responsibilities. Students in the program work at a variety of types and sizes of museums in locations all over the country and across the world.  The courses are ideal for museum professionals either lacking prior formal museum studies training or desiring a refresher. Students complete four 3-credit courses, which include:

  • Collections Management: Legal and Ethical Issues
  • Collections Management: Practical Applications
  • Preventative Conservation: Philosophy and Theory
  • Preventative Conservation: Practical Applications



The MA in Museum Education is offered through the Graduate School of Education and Human Development.  Accessibility, advocacy, and accountability are the three core tenets of The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development’s Museum Education Program (MEP).  The 33 credits of coursework consist of 27 credits of core courses and six credits of elective courses. The entire class takes the core courses in sequence over four semesters, starting in June each year. Students individually choose their electives in the arts, humanities, and sciences, as well as in museology.  Graduates qualify for positions in art, history or science museums; children's museums, zoos, aquariums or nature centers; and historical societies or sites.  After completing the four-semester, 33-credit hour program, students will be better able to:

  • Develop and implement effective strategies that empower visitors to experience museums more fully.
  • Excel as advocates for the public within the museum and as advocates for the museum with the public.
  • Promote the nurturing of an enlightened citizenry.
 

The MA in Jewish Cultural Arts is a 36-credit program that combines the practical with the academic, providing students with the hands-on skills as well as the intellectual capital to think analytically and deeply about the history, ethnography and sociology of the modern Jewish experience and to respond innovatively to its challenges and possibilities. The rich resources of the nation’s capital as well as those of the university provide students with stellar opportunities, including internships and cultural collaborations with arts organizations, foundations, and museums.
 

Country: 
State, province, or territory: 
City: 

Washington

Georgetown University

Type of education program: 
Program name: 
Art and Museum Studies

MA in Art and Museum Studies

Georgetown University’s M.A. degree program in Art and Museum Studies brings the academic study of art museums together with museum practice, and emphasizes the international contexts of museums in the modern world. Through courses, individual research, and internships, students work closely with Georgetown art history faculty, curators, and other museum professionals in Washington DC, and with faculty specialists at Sotheby's Institute of Art in London or New York.

The twelve-month course of study combines courses in museology and art history with internships at some of Washington’s premier art institutions. We examine the changing relationships between academic study of art and new configurations of museum display and interpretation. Such topics as the roles of museums in modern cultures, museum education programs and audiences, new technologies, collection management, curatorial work and the ethics of acquisition and display are discussed in classes and individual research projects. Our students take part in critical debates about art exhibition and interpretation.

The curriculum provides a sequence of varied approaches to museum study. In the first semester, students take courses at Georgetown and participate in an internship at an area museum. The following semester, at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London or New York, students take an intensive course in a selected field, such as decorative arts or contemporary art. The Institute’s course work emphasizes connoisseurship and hands-on study of art works, and incorporates study trips to public and private collections, auction houses, and art fairs. In the summer term, students complete a full-time internship in a museum in Washington or another city; the term culminates in a capstone workshop held in late August in Washington.

Country: 
State, province, or territory: 
City: 

Washington

Johns Hopkins University

Type of education program: 
Program name: 
Museum Studies Program

MA in Museum Studies online program; online Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management; MA in Public Management

The MA in Museum Studies is an online program (nine online classes and one onsite seminar are required) that provides a perspective on the theory and practice of museums in a changing technological, social and political environment for current and future museum professionals. It emphasizes the role of technology as a pervasive aspect in today's museum, examines new models of education, exhibition, and business strategies, and explores the role of the museum as an agent of social change. The program welcomes students interested in all types of museums including history, technology, science, art, special topic or themed museums, historic sites, national parks and zoos and those interested in exhibitions for corporations, government agencies and private organizations. The Museum Studies Program offers a structured curriculum of required and core courses augmented with electives. This curriculum provides opportunities for students to gain knowledge and skills in current professional museum practice with an eye to the future and an integration of past philosophies and practice. The program encompasses both theory and practice, focusing on providing real-world skills and training that enable students to move into the museum field or move up to jobs with more responsibility and requiring greater skills and knowledge. As an online program, they are able to offer the expertise of highly regarded professors and museum professionals from around the world, innovative virtual field trips, and global resources from a wide array of museums brought together in new and exciting ways. An international student body provides diverse perspectives and experiences in a dynamic online learning environment.

The Certificate in Nonprofit Management is fully-online. The coursework focuses on building the specific analytical and management skills needed by those assuming leadership roles as executive staff or board members in a variety of nonprofit fields. All the courses feature a global perspective for relevance in today’s world of interconnected economies and communication. For students already working in nonprofit sub-specialties, such as arts and culture, health, environmental conservation or international development, the courses will show how their fields fit into the larger nonprofit sector and how the larger forces affect their own leadership and management challenges. The courses are also relevant for students pursuing careers in government agencies that require extensive interaction with nonprofits in the US or other countries.

The MA in Public Management combines rigorous academics and strategic skills to meet the challenges of government and policymaking in the 21st Century. While empowering students to be strategic, the program also educates them in the fundamentals of public management: financial management, policy analysis, tax and budget policy, and public administration. Students learn to apply the latest theory, scientific findings, and new management methods to help solve real-world governance and policy issues. The curriculum is designed for working professionals in the government and nonprofit sector.

Country: 
State, province, or territory: 
City: 

Washington

Corcoran College of Art + Design

Type of education program: 
Program discipline(s): 
Program name: 
Exhibition Design

MA in Exhibition Design

This is one of the few accredited graduate programs in the nation devoted to interpretive exhibition design. The curriculum is a balanced integration of academic, technical, and design courses. Students attain the professional skills needed to create experiences that engage, educate, and entertain audiences, and to assume the responsibilities of storytellers, communicators, and visitor advocates.

In addition to the rigorous course requirements, the Corcoran encourages students to seek internships in a diversity of museums and private design firms. Recent hosts include the National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Textile Museum, the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Students also develop valuable professional networks through membership in SEGD at the Corcoran, the student organization of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design. Graduates of the multidisciplinary program are equipped to pursue careers in art, history, natural history, science, and children’s museums, as well as in private design firms.

Country: 
State, province, or territory: 
City: 

Washington

American University

Type of education program: 
Program name: 
Arts Management Program

Through the Arts Management Program at the American University, students can pursue an MA, a Graduate Certificate, or the recently established Graduate Certificate in International Arts Management.

The MA program trains students to become arts administrators across performing and visual art disciplines. The program blends the basic tenets of administration with an understanding of the cultural sector in the global economy. The arts management MA program excels in providing students a decision making context for the jobs of the future through an understanding of cultural policy, international arts management issues, and organizational dynamics. The master's program prepares students to become effective advocates for the arts and to succeed in a wide range of administrative, managerial, and leadership positions. The arts management MA program curriculum is designed to combine current cultural and nonprofit theory with the best practices from the management field. Core courses focus on fundraising, marketing, and financial management of arts organizations. A flexible and interdisciplinary program, master’s students may take electives and rotating topic courses in museum management, art history, public administration, business administration, communication, international or public policy as well as participate in any of the Department of Performing Arts ensembles. Arts management master's students can apply classroom concepts in professional settings through internships and independent studies at numerous arts organizations in the Washington, DC area.

The Graduate Certificate in Arts Management is for students who wish to augment or begin arts management studies and is designed for those with a number of years of experience in the field. The arts management graduate certificate is a recognized form of continuing education. Students gain knowledge and experience in nonprofit arts management, including fundraising, marketing, governance, and cultural policy.

The new Graduate Certificate in International Arts Management is a joint certificate awarded by American University's International Communications Program of the School of International Service (ranked #5 in the world) and the Arts Management Program in the College of Arts and Sciences. This Certificate is the first in the world to combine intellectual examination of and practical training in international arts management. Students completing the Certificate in International Arts Management will have a specialization that makes them uniquely qualified to tackle a wide range of intercultural and international challenges within the diverse field of international arts. In particular, an International Arts Management Certificate will provide innovative international education and training to students in the skills necessary to engage in cultural work in projects of international scope or that have significant cross-cultural or transnational components. Graduates of the program may find work in embassies, international cultural NGOs, international divisions of cultural institutions, government entities dedicated to arts and culture and similar organizations. As a result, students will be able to act as community, national, and international leaders throughout the domain of arts and culture in a global context.

Country: 
State, province, or territory: 
City: 

Washington

Subscribe to RSS - District of Columbia