Anthropology/Cultural Heritage/Archaeology

SIUC offers an undergraduate minor in Museum Studies in the College of Liberal Arts; and a Masters in the Public Administration Program with emphasis on museum studies by taking the 43 hour Museum Administration Curriculum, which "is designed to give the student a firm foundation in the essentials of public administration and specialized training through advanced courses in museum administration. "

Student may earn a Master of Arts in Anthropology/Museum Studies or a Master of Arts in Public Humanities.

The John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage administers the Department of American Civilization’s M.A. in public humanities. Students in this program (which can be completed either as a terminal master’s program or as part of the Ph.D. program) gain the knowledge and skills needed for jobs in museums, historical societies, state and federal humanities and cultural resource agencies, and historic preservation and community cultural development organizations.

The M.A. program in public humanities offers a dynamic interdisciplinary opportunity for students interested in careers in museums, historical societies, cultural planning agencies, heritage tourism, historic preservation, and community arts programs. The program draws on Brown University’s open curriculum and the wide-ranging resources of Providence’s arts and cultural community to connect students to academic and hands-on learning experiences.

The graduate masters degree program in anthropology emphasizes archaeology. Additionally, the program offers students interested in professional training in museum studies the option to complete a Museum Studies Certificate in combination with their M.A. program in archaeological fieldwork.

Focusing on the emergence and development of hunter-gatherer and early farming communities in the western United States, as well as complex societies in Mesoamerica and the Near East, the program’s strength is the diversity of research opportunities it affords students. These include research venues in the Great Basin and American Southwest regions of North America as well as Mesoamerica and the Near East. Museum internship opportunities are often available, both on and off campus, for students adding the Museum Certificate requirements to their program. Annual archaeology field schools focus on providing training in both survey and excavation, with an emphasis on detailed documentation, resolving field problems through hands-on mentored learning, data analysis, and reporting findings. The optional Museum Studies Certificate allows students hands-on professional training in all aspects of museum collections management, exhibition development, and museum public outreach.

Rather than emphasizing specialized or topical interests, the program equips each graduate student with the basic skills necessary for a future in professional archaeology and/or museum studies, including preparation for continuance in academia through a subsequent Ph.D. degree in anthropology or archaeology, a career in public archaeology, or placement in a museum.

Up to six students are admitted to the graduate program each year. Most students take three years to complete the requirements. The total number of graduate students in the program varies from between 10 to 15 participants.

"This programme is taught at the Ironbridge Institute, run jointly by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and the University, and situated in the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site in Shropshire; it is appropriate for people working or planning to work in conservation and recording agencies, museums, tourism, environmental education, archaeology, landscape design and planning."

Heritage Studies and Museums (MPhil in Social Anthropology and Museums or in Archaeological Heritage and Museums), covers "the core issues and approaches within the field of heritage generally (including tangible and tangible, movable and immovable heritage) and museums specifically. It traces the development of heritage as a public enterprise whether in the form of museums or heritage organisations and legislation, and focuses on the ways this field has expanded and the core issues that now defines it. These include:

• The historical development of museums and heritage institutions
• The concept of value, its historical development, ways of assessment and contestation
• The links between heritage and identity
• The political dimensions to heritage and museums
• Ethics
• The management structures, and the divisions of tasks and responsibilities between different kinds of organisations
• The development of `heritage tools' such as laws and organisation
• The public—the actors, from international bodies to local communities"

"The UCL Institute of Archaeology is the largest and one of the most highly regarded centres for archaeology, cultural heritage and museum studies in Britain, as evidenced by its top position in university league tables and National Student Survey results. It is one of the very few places in the world actively pursuing research on a truly global scale. Its degree programmes offer an unrivalled variety of courses on a diverse range of topics, and wide-ranging fieldwork opportunities.  The Institute hosts events on many different aspects of archaeology and is linked to heritage organisations, museums and archaeological societies, providing an outstanding research environment for staff, students and visitors."

"The Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies courses at Deakin University encourage a holistic approach, aimed at developing skills in protecting the significant elements of cultural heritage - objects, places and intangibles - and making them accessible to the public.
We focus especially on historic places, intangible heritage and museums and their collections. We regard Indigenous heritages as foundational in culture, and therefore refer to and study them throughout the curriculum. We take a transnational interest in all museum and heritage issues.
The courses are designed for Australian and international students wanting to work in the museum and built heritage sectors. As well as offering personal enrichment, graduates obtain a postgraduate qualification that will assist with professional or academic advancement."