Museum Studies
College of Humanities
Dean: Nancy McDermid
Museum Studies Program
HUM 514
415-338-1612
Director: Linda Ellis
Graduate Coordinator: Linda Ellis
Program
M.A. in Museum Studies
Program Scope
An interdisciplinary Master of Arts in Museum Studies is offered through the Department of Classics. The program is designed to provide graduate professional training in major areas of museum work—museum administration, fundraising, collections management, exhibition design, museum educational programming, and curation. The Museum Studies degree also assists those students who plan to continue graduate studies in conservation or in academic doctoral programs.
Career Outlook
The Museum Studies Program prepares students for employment in all types of museums, cultural arts centers, arts commissions, historical sites and houses, science centers, environmental education centers, libraries with exhibition programs, exhibit design firms, auction houses, planetaria, aquaria, zoos, and botanical gardens.
MASTER OF ARTS IN MUSEUM STUDIES
Graduate Advisers—Bernstein, Ellis
Admission to the Program
Students are admitted in this program for fall terms only. To be admitted to classified status, a student must meet all general university requirements. No more than six units of work taken in post-baccalaureate status is transferable to M.A. degree credit in the Museum Studies Program.
Applicants must:
- Have an undergraduate degree in one of the following fields: anthropology, art history, classics, design, education, history, natural science, or public administration.
- Have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in the last 30 units of upper division courses completed.
- Submit to the admissions committee two letters of recommendation and a written statement of background, intentions, and goals. Each applicant is encouraged to specify as closely as possible the emphasis he or she wishes to pursue.
- Have consent of the graduate coordinators assigned to the Museum Studies Program in each of the participating departments.
Written English Proficiency Requirement
Level One: satisfactory performance in final research paper for MS 700 or CLAR 750. Level Two: successful completion of master's thesis or creative work project.
Advancement to Candidacy
Besides meeting all general requirements for advancement to candidacy, applicants must, in addition, have completed with a grade of B or better each of the following courses: MS 700, ART 719, ANTH/MS 794, CLAR 750.
Courses for this program are listed in alphabetical sequence (see course listing in the Announcement of Courses section).
Units
MS 700 Seminar in Museum Studies
[required during first semester
of program] 3
ART 719 Exhibition Design 3
ANTH/MS 794 Museum Collections Management 3
CLAR 750 Authentication and Dating of
Antiquities 3
One course from the following: 3
ANTH 795 Directed Experience in
Museology
ART 853 Directed Experience in
Museum Education
CLAR 795 Directed Field Experi-
ence in Museology
Electives: minimum of twelve units of upper
division or graduate courses to be selected on
advisement to develop expertise in area of
emphasis: 12
I. Exhibition Design and Presentation
II. Conservation and Restoration
III. Museum and Gallery Management
IV. Education
V. Registration/Collections Management
VI. Management of Living Collections
One of the following: 3
MS 898 Master's Thesis
MS 894 Creative Work Project
Minimum total 30