United States

The Rochester Institute of Technology offers a BS in Museum Studies.

RIT’s bachelor of science degree program in museum studies (housed within the Department of Fine Arts) is an innovative, interdisciplinary, technically-based undergraduate program that prepares you for careers in museums, archives, photo collections, and libraries. Museum studies is an exciting and rapidly changing field that increasingly needs professionals who can bring 21st century technological skills to collecting institutions with cultural or scientific collections. The program will provide you with a thorough grounding in museum studies, supplemented by specialized professional cores. This combination, enhanced by your experiential learning in internship programs, will set you apart from others in the field and prepare you for advanced study.

The Program in Museum Studies offers an MA in Museum Studies, an Advanced Certificate in Museum Studies, and a Concentration in Museum Studies to those enrolled for a Master's degree in one of the following NYU departments: Africana Studies, Hebrew & Judaic Studies, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, and Near Eastern Studies.

The Program in Museum Studies offers an innovative course of study in the contemporary theory and practice of museum work that emphasizes both the interdisciplinary study of museums and courses of practical training. In addition to obtaining a broad foundation in the history and theory of museums, the creation and maintenance of exhibitions and collections, and museum management, our students pursue personal programs of study supporting individual academic and career objectives. Graduates from the program are working as directors, curators, educators, registrars, collection managers, and development, media and public relations specialists in a variety of settings (museums of fine art, history, anthropology, technology, and natural history; in arboretums, national parks, and science centers; with private and corporate collections; and in government agencies, historical societies, and art galleries).

Hartwick College offers an undergraduate program in Museum Studies.  Students take Museum Studies courses in conjunction with a major or minor in an academic field most often associated with museums, such as Anthropology, Art, Art History, Education, History, English, Business Administration, or one of the sciences.  Some students may opt to design their own Individual Student Program. Students who complete the minor will:

• Understand the many ways museums are used as intellectual resources, preservers, and presenters of the world's cultures, and places of enjoyment and entertainment
• Have a broader understanding of cultural diversity and the ways that museums reflect positions of power
• Have an intellectual understanding of how museums provide diverse educational opportunities by offering many different modes of learning

The Department of Museum Studies offers three graduate programs of specialized museum studies: MA in Museum Education, and MA in Museum Communication, and an MFA in Museum Exhibition Planning and Design.

The Museum Education program offers a unique opportunity to obtain the theoretical and practical foundation as well as the experience necessary for your career in museums and galleries of all subjects — art, history, cultural history, science and more. A student body drawn from the arts, history, cultural history and the sciences makes for a lively exchange of ideas about the potential for museums. Student internships can be held in museums of natural history, science and technology, in art museums and galleries, historic houses and history museums, anthropology, archaeology, and culturally specific museums.

The Museum Communication program is a unique combination of coursework, studio training, independent research, internships, presentations and projects that will help further professional careers. Museum Communication is a field of study committed to exploring the transmission of information from, among and to cultural institutions, audiences, stakeholders and partners. By combining studio experience with other forms of instruction, the curriculum ensures that graduates are adept at using visual communication strategies to accomplish institutional objectives. Students develop the professional and intellectual skills needed to shape the future of museums. Graduates are employed by museums of anthropology, archaeology, fine art, history and natural history, science centers and zoos, national parks and arboretums, cultural arts organizations, government agencies, historical societies, historic sites and houses, and private and corporate collections and foundations.

The Museum Exhibition Planning and Design program prepares graduates to excel in the planning, content development and design processes implemented by professionals in the field of museum exhibition creation - from the first spark of an idea through research, prototyping, design, documentation, construction, exhibit opening to post-opening evaluation and beyond. The curriculum emphasizes concepts such as spatial sociology, color theory, education theory and sensory perception as communication tools, as well as drawing, building, computer skills, documentation and building techniques. Students also gain experience in critical analysis/synthesis and professional-level written and oral presentations.

The School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania offers an MS in Historic Preservation, a Certificate in Historic Preservation, and and Advanced Certificate in Architectural Conservation and Site Management for post-graduates. In addtion, the Historic Preservation Department offers dual-degrees with other departments in the School of Design.

Faculty and students in the MS program in Historic Preservation pursue all aspects of preservation-technical, material, humanistic, urbanistic, economic. The time-tested curriculum provides the essential foundations for preservation practice, many opportunities for specialized study, and hands-on experience through praxis projects. History, theory, documentation, technology, and planning are the core of the program. Specializations include site management, building conservation, landscape preservation, preservation planning, and preservation design. Students learn to identify and analyze cultural places and their historic fabric, determine significance and value, and design appropriate conservation and management measures. Graduates can look toward careers focused on the design and preservation of the world's cultural heritage including buildings, engineering works, cultural landscapes, archaeological sites, and historic towns and cities.

The Certificate in Historic Preservation provides an opportunity for students in the departments of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, and City and Regional Planning to gain expertise in historic preservation while completing requirements for their professional degrees. The Certificate program also offers practicing professionals the opportunity to pursue specialization training in historic preservation within one semester full-time.

The Advanced Certificate in Architectural Conservation and Site Management is a one-semester program that provides post-graduate training focused on research or praxis for those who have completed the Master of Science in Historic Preservation. The Advanced Certificate allows graduates the unique experience of directed research and field work at home or abroad under direct professional mentorship.

Drexel's MS in Arts Administration program is run by the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. It is an online program for working professionals. It integrates innovative management practice, arts administration theory, and practicum into this internationally-recognized curriculum. The program provides strong emphasis in management practice with a specific focus on the non-profit arts community. Marketing and policy development are explored in-depth as students prepare to solve the challenges facing the art community today and tomorrow.

The Master of Arts Management (MAM) program at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College is designed to create innovative leaders in the visual and performing arts. The program combines rigorous finance, marketing and fundraising coursework with practical experience to prepare you to excel in a public, private or nonprofit arts environment. Heinz College's MAM program provides what other arts administration master's degrees cannot -- the solid foundation of quantitative management principles for which CMU is known globally. Students leave the University with the arts management and administration tools necessary to solve some of the most pressing economic and operational challenges currently facing arts organizations in the U.S. and internationally.

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.
 

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.

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.