Museum Studies

College of Humanities
Dean: Nancy McDermid

Museum Studies Program
HUM 528
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.

The Museum Studies Program operates a series of specialized facilities where students may obtain training: Museum of Ancient Civilizations (public exhibit gallery for visiting archaeological exhibitions and collections storage for the permanent Sutro Egyptian Collection), exhibition preparation workshop, conservation laboratory, archaeometry center, x-ray laboratory, documentation center, and darkroom.

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 60 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, MS 750, or MS 800. 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, MS 794, MS 880.

Core Requirements		Units
MS 700	History and Organization of Museums [required during first semester of program]	3
MS 794	Museum Collections Management and Registration	3
MS 880	Museum Internship	3
	Total for core	9
Area Requirements One course selected from each of the following three groups:		9-10
Conservation
CLAR 850	Museum Conservation and Restoration
MS 750	Museum Materials Analysis and Technology
Museum Management
MS 800	Museum Management, Law, and Ethics
PA 770	Administration of Non-Profit Organizations (4)
Exhibition Design
ART 719	Exhibit Design
MS 730	Museum Exhibit Design and Curation
	Total area requirements	9-10
Emphasis Three interdisciplinary electives selected in an area of specialization, which must be chosen in consultation with the Director of Museum Studies		9
Curation
Exhibition Design
Conservation and Restoration
Museum and Gallery Management
Museum Education and Public Programming
Registration/Collections Management
	Total for emphasis	9
Culminating Experience Requirement One of the following:		3
MS 894	Creative Work Project
MS 898	Master's Thesis
	Minimum total	30-31

Students who do not complete their culminating experience by the end of the Spring semester in which they are enrolled in either MS 894 or MS 898 must thereafter enroll in MS 897, Directed Thesis Advising and Support, each Spring semester until their work is completed and accepted by the faculty.