Collections care/management

The University of Victoria offers a variety of options in the area of heritage, culture, and museum studies. 

Post-undergraduate level products are:

• Diploma in Cultural Resource Management that focuses on museum or heritage principles and practices or approaches to the management of cultural organizations
• Post-undergraduate level Professional Specialization Certificate in Collections Management Cultural Resource Management Program
• Post-undergraduate level Professional Specialization Certificate in Heritage Conservation Planning.

Graduate level studies are:

• Graduate Certificate in Cultural Heritage Studies for emerging and mid-career individuals involved with a range of cultural heritage fields that strengthens both understanding and integration of cultural heritage, community engagement and sustainable development
• Graduate Professional Certificate in Cultural Heritage Studies, available in Summer 2013 to professionals and those interested in pursuing a career or involvement in cultural heritage, will strengthen management and leadership skills by focusing on conceptual and practical strategies for approaching challenges in the workplace and community.

Athabasca University's Heritage Resources Management program offers an Undergraduate Certificate and a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma. Heritage Resource Management (HRM) involves working with those things of the past — both intangible and tangible — that a society determines are of value and worth preserving. It can thus involve many subjects, including history, archaeology, art history, paleontology, documentary heritage, science and technology, and cultural landscapes. It also requires many specialized practices. These include the work undertaken at archives, at a huge range of museums, interpretive centers, historic places and, among others, in connection with heritage landscapes.

The undergraduate University Certificate (UC-HRM) program is designed for students who do not already hold an undergraduate degree, and who desire a solid foundation in both general theory and established practice. The courses are all delivered in an self-paced distance format, so students can participate in the courses and program starting any month through the year and from anywhere in the world, while providing a very flexible academic schedule. The courses provide practical knowledge and a comprehensive exposure to important issues and trends in the heritage field, from the management and maintenance of exhibits to the heritage policies of various Canadian governments. Students are introduced to planning, and are provided with a basis for making ethical decisions. Students implement their new knowledge and understanding in a mandatory practicum.

For undergraduate students, the 30 credits credits earned in the Undergraduate Certificate program may be applied to a full undergraduate degree at Athabasca University.

The Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Heritage Resources Management (PBD-HRM) program is designed for students that already hold a Bachelor's degree. Graduate-level training provides students with range of important opportunities academically, professionally, and personally. Those who choose a career in the heritage field benefit from a commitment to ongoing professional development, lifelong learning, and a high level of academic training. The PBD-HRM meets these needs, and provides an important professional credential which additionally may be used as a stepping stone to further graduate work such as AU's Master of Arts - Integrated Studies degree.

See entry for Buffalo State

The Cooperstown Graduate Program offers an MA in History Museum Studies.

The Cooperstown Graduate Program (CGP) is a partnership between the State University of New York College at Oneonta and the New York State Historical Association. The Program trains creative, entrepreneurial museum leaders committed to generating programs and services for the public good. CGP trained professionals dedicate themselves to the development of strong institutions that play a central role in their communities, encouraging broad public audiences to use artifacts and the study of art and history as a catalyst for social change.

One of only two programs in the country located on a museum campus rather than a university campus, students have the opportunity to interact regularly with museum professional staff, with objects, and with exhibitions. The CGP curriculum balances museum studies with the study of history and material culture. Core and elective courses in research, history, object study, administration, and education provide an excellent foundation for the development of museum programs and exhibitions. The coursework at CGP provides students with real professional experience including creating programming and exhibitions for museums in the region, acting as consultants, and working on strategic plans, feasibility studies, historic furnishing reports, and collections plans. Students gain a basic understanding of all aspects of museum work (particularly administration, collections, exhibitions and programming) and specialize in a career track and in a subject area.

In addition, the Cooperstown Graduate Program is a co-collaborator with the Museum Association of New York (MANY) and the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA) in running the "Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship" -- a four-day program that is held at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. This program is for mid-career museum, preservation, historic site and other arts and culture professionals designed to introduce business applications and principles of entrepreneurial thinking with the goal of expanding vision and leadership skills. Participants at the Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship are introduced to what today’s entrepreneurial museum leaders are saying. The Institute is a dynamic four-day experience that immerses participants in the world of nonprofit entrepreneurship training through case studies and skill building exercises that contribute to creative idea generation. Training sessions are designed to serve as catalysts that challenge traditional models of museum work in innovative and creative ways. Practice exercises teach creative idea generation and follow-through while entrepreneurial and problem solving skills are tested on case studies developed expressly for this Institute. Follow-up webinars keep participants connected with mentors and one another to help them become the change agents that 21st century museums demand.

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.
 

MTSU offers an MA or PhD in Public History, or a graduate level Certificate of Advanced Study in one of four tracks.

Students an MA in Public History choose one of four concentrations within the program: historic preservation, cultural resource management, museum management, and archival management. As fields of public history, these areas overlap to some extent, but each requires its own specialized training and each put students on a distinct career path. Incoming students may not be certain of the concentration they wish to pursue; one of the purposes of our program is to expose students to the myriad career possibilities associated with the four concentrations, helping them to select the curriculum best suited to their interests and aspirations.

The Ph.D. in Public History is an innovative, practice-based, individualized program of study. Offered by the Department of History in partnership with the Center for Historic Preservation and the Center for Popular Music, the program provides a community of nationally recognized scholars and cultural heritage professionals cooperating to train the next generation of leaders in the field

A 12-credit hour Certificate of Advanced Study is available to students currently pursuing an M.A. in Public History at MTSU, to MTSU alumni who hold an M.A. in Public History, and to applicants who hold an equivalent M.A. from another university. The CAS program has four options, described in greater detail below: Historic Preservation, Heritage Studies, Museum Management, and Archival Management.

The College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning offers a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Curatorial Practice. The College-Conservatory of Music offers an MA in Arts Administration.

The Museum Studies program teaches students how museums are organized and operate, how they care for and interpret their collections, how they serve their audiences, and what issues they face in satisfying their diverse responsibilities.

Curatorial Practice is designed to train students in the practical and critical aspects of assembling exhibitions. Since the greater number of exhibitions take place outside institutions (in galleries and artist-run spaces), it is as important for Fine Artists to be engaged with these alternative venues as it is to be cognizant of Museum exhibitions. With two galleries on campus and with a faculty actively engaged in exhibiting and curating contemporary work, the University of Cincinnati is positioned well to offer this certificate. There are plentiful opportunities for internships in the city where artist-led curatorial initiatives are already practiced. Cincinnati also has several significant private collections of contemporary art whose owners are already engaged with our programs in various capacities.

The Graduate Arts Administration Program prepares and trains students to become successful CEOs and senior managers of nonprofit arts and cultural institutions. The philosophy and structure of the program reflects the understanding that sound business training and practical, real-world exposure to the field are both essential qualities of a successful arts administrator. The program further recognizes that the successful arts administrator has the leadership capacity to adapt classical theories and practices to the management of complex and changing arts environment. The College-Conservatory of Music also offers a dual degree with the nationally-recognized College of Business called the MA/MBA option. The two programs combine resources to train administrative leadership for professional performing arts and visual arts organizations.

MA in Public History prepares its students to work in a variety of public and applied history settings; archives, museums, libraries and other public history facilities. Public History is viewed as an approach not only to scholarship but to the practice of history and engagement with the world. Public history is the way in which they make history relevant to our communities, states, and nation. They promote the collaborative nature of public history, the importance of relevance over objectivity, and the civic role of the public historian.

The Museum Studies Program offers intense training in museology theories and methodologies, preparing students to work with public audiences in museums, historic sites, and other cultural institutions. The program introduces students to the tools that public historians use: material culture, shared inquiry and authority, weighing relevance against objectivity, and professional ethics. Through the development of public projects, students learn the benefits of collaboration and the responsibilities of leadership.

The Heritage Studies Program provides students with professional skills to work for local, state, national, and international organizations as well as private institutions in developing concepts and strategies for the conservation, rehabilitation and promotion of cultural resources and heritage sites. They will be able to design and implement plans for the protection and development of heritage properties, and create models for sustainable tourism around historic and heritage sites.

Archival studies is offered through a dual degree program with the School of Information and Library Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The dual degree program allows students to pursue an MILS degree in archival management as well as an MA in public history in museum studies, heritage studies, or a tailored curriculum to complement their archival degree. The dual degree program was created in response to today’s marketplace demands that archivists, manuscript curators, and records managers have both historical knowledge and advanced information management skills. The new archival workforce must both be able to appraise and describe historical records, and create World Wide Web sites and preserve electronic documents. ... Students must apply and be admitted to each graduate program separately, identifing their interest in the dual degree prior to admission.

Several degree options ranging up to an MPhil or a PhD in research may be earned in one of several programs of museum, galley, and heritage studies that are offered in the School of Arts and Culture.

The International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies (ICCHS) is a leading academic centre for research and teaching in museum, gallery, and heritage studies. The taught postgraduate programs are vocational, providing students from all over the world with the knowledge, skills and understanding required to work in a variety of roles, from curators, education officers and managers to cultural policy makers. The programs benefit from the Center's experience in and engagement with the museum, gallery and heritage sector: it works closely with sector professionals both in the delivery of teaching and on research initiatives and on providing advice and consultancy for the sector.

Students develop a holistic view of the sector, focusing on everything from ancient castles to contemporary art galleries; after this, students specialize in specific areas. Students are equipped for work both in single areas (e.g. art or history curatorship) and between different kinds of organizations.

JFK University offers three distinguished Museum Studies programs:

• The Master of Arts is the preferred credential and recommended for students who intend to pursue a full-time career in the museum field.
• The MA and MBA dual degree is recommended for students interested in deepening their knowledge and skills in museum leadership and management.
• The program’s certificate option is designed for professionals who have extensive experience in the field and do not require a master’s degree.

The Museum Studies program at JFK University is one of the nation’s most recognized museum studies programs and is committed to preparing museum professionals to meet the demands of an increasingly complex profession. Today’s museum professionals must have the knowledge and skills to serve diverse audiences, create collaborative partnerships with communities, design innovative exhibitions and programs, and develop a sustainable financial base of support.

The curriculum covers a wide range of issues and provides fundamental skills while challenging students to critically analyze and creatively reform museums for a diverse society. The training is applicable to all types of museums, historical sites, natural parks, and cultural and discovery centers.

All Museum Studies students are required to complete one or more internships to put their classroom knowledge to practice. Recent internship sites include the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences, the Auckland War Memorial Museum in New Zealand, the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage,  the Walt Disney Family Museum, among others.  A list of recent student internships and alumni positions is included under "Related Downloads" on the right.

All Museum Studies faculty members are practicing professionals. Their ranks include conservators, registrars/collections managers, educators, exhibit designers, and museum administrators. Students have close contact with other experts in the field through museum visits, guest speakers, and internships. During the academic year professionals from many of the more than 250 Bay Area museums work with JFK University students.