Museum Studies
College of Arts and Humanities
Dean: Paul Sherwin
Museum Studies Program
HUM 515
Phone: 415-405-0599
Fax: 415-338-1775
Email: museumst@sfsu.edu
Web: www.sfsu.edu/~museumst
Director: Linda Ellis
Graduate Coordinator: Linda Ellis
Faculty
Professors: Ellis, Luby
Lecturers: DeMouthe, Fogarty, Fox
Program
Program Scope
The museum studies 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 curatorship. The museum studies degree also assists those students who plan to continue graduate studies in conservation, law school or in doctoral programs.
The museum studies program operates a series of specialized facilities where students may obtain training: The University Museum (public exhibit gallery for visiting archaeological exhibitions and collections storage for the permanent Sutro Egyptian Collection), exhibition preparation workshop, conservation laboratory, microscopy lab, documentation center, and object photography.
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: Ellis, Luby
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 6 units of work taken in post-baccalaureate status are transferable to M.A. degree credit in the museum studies program.
To be eligible for consideration, applicants must:
- Have an undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university in one of the following or related fields: anthropology, archaeology, art history, classics, design, education, history, biological or physical sciences, or public/art administration. Additional museum experience beyond the minimum required is expected when a student has a degree in a field not listed.
- Have at least a minimum grade point average of 3.20 in the last 60 semester units of upper-division courses completed.
- Be able to demonstrate understanding of the work and profession of museum studies, gained through paid or volunteer experience (minimum of six months) in a museum or related setting. Experience can be completed prior to or concurrent with application to the program.
- Submit to the Museum Studies program two letters of recommendation from faculty or supervisors knowledgeable of the applicant’s academic or professional ability. At least one of these letters should be from a museum supervisor.
- Submit to the Museum Studies program a current resumé and written statement of purpose, outlining background, intentions, and goals as specified in the program’s admissions procedures. Each applicant is encouraged to specify as closely as possible the emphasis s/he wishes to pursue.
- Send one set of transcripts of all prior academic work directly to the Museum Studies program. Another set is required by the university graduate admissions office.
- Submit GRE scores with a minimum of 4.5 or better on the analytical writing section, and a 550 or better on the verbal section. Past scores will be accepted if taken within five years of the semester the applicant wishes to attend.
- Submit a paper TOEFL score of at least 550 or a computer-based score of 213 to the graduate admissions office, if an international applicant is from a non-English speaking countries.
For admission, applications are due February 1. Domestic applicants are contacted by the Museum Studies program for interviews on a rolling basis on limited dates beginning November through February, only if the following are on file: the application for post-baccalaureate study to the university graduate admissions office, official transcripts, and resumé. Local applicants are also required to attend one of the program’s regularly scheduled open house dates (November or February) as part of the admissions process.
Written English Proficiency Requirement
Level One: GRE scores with a minimum of 4.5 or better on the analytical writing section, and a 550 or better on the verbal section. Level Two: grade of B+ or above on final research papers for M S 800 and M S 860 successful.
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 and MS 880.
Courses are 3 units unless otherwise indicated. On-line course descriptions are available.
Core Requirements
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| M S 700 | History and Organization of Museums [required during first semester of program] |
| M S 860 | Museum Fundraising |
| M S 880 | Museum Internship |
Total for Core: 9 units
Area Requirements
3 units of coursework selected from each of the following three groups:
Collections Care and Conservation
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| M S 740 | Museum Conservation and Restoration |
| M S 794 | Museum Collections Management and Registration |
| M S 791 | Integrated Pest Management in Heritage Facilities |
| M S 792 | Museum Security and Protection |
| M S 793 | Museum Facilities Management |
Museum Management
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| M S 800 | Museum Management, Law, and Ethics |
| M S 830 | Museum Governance |
| P A 745 | Administration of Nonprofit Organizations |
Exhibition Design
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| ART 719 | Exhibit Design |
| M S 720 | Museum Curatorship and Collecting |
Total area requirements: 9 units
Area Emphasis
Select four electives relevant to the following areas. No more than 6 units of non-museum studies courses may count towards electives in the area emphasis. Courses must be chosen in consultation with a museum studies faculty adviser.
Curatorship
Exhibition Design
Cultural Property Law and Protection
Museum Management and Fundraising
Museum Education and Public Programming
Registration/Collections Management
Total for emphasis:12 units
Culminating Experience Requirement
| Course | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| M S 894 or M S 898 |
Creative Work Project Master’s Thesis |
3 |
Minimum Total: 33 units
If students do not complete their culminating experience in either MS 894 or MS 898, they must thereafter continue to be enrolled in one course during one semester each academic year until graduation.
