Course Descriptions

Required Courses

Students are required to take 460.610 and either 460.601 or 460.602.

460.601 – Exploring Museum Professions
Managing today's museum relies upon the coordinated efforts of a wide range of specially skilled staff. From directors to accountants, curators to educators, exhibit designers to event planners, registrars to conservators, IT to media, marketing to membership, security to facilities--the professionals behind a museum's walls define the quality of the institution and each visitor's experience. Through video and audio interviews with leaders in the museum field, this course examines the core functions of the museum and how the roles and responsibilities of museum professionals assure a museum's daily operation, growth and sustainability. Current issues facing museums including financial challenges, the effects of technology and green strategies will also be explored.

460.602 – Museums in the Digital Age
With the emergence of new media and the ever-expanding use of the Internet, the traditional role and scope of the museum is changing. The museum has a new position in global communication, dissemination of information, and cultural understanding. The introduction of technology into the museum is challenging traditional exhibition concepts, introducing new interactions with museum audiences , and affecting the museum’s core operations. This course introduces students to the museum field and explores the impact of media and technology on the museum, including an overview of the historical role of the museum in society and an examination of the current uses and affects of digitization, the Internet, and wireless technologies in these institutions, as well as basic concepts underlying the planning of a technology project for a museum.

460.610 – Onsite Summer Seminar
A two-week, intensive, period of on-ground museum study in Washington, DC, including practicum opportunities in a variety of museum settings; conversations with local museum professionals; observation of and interaction with museum visitors; and class sessions to integrate the learning experience. Using the rich diversity of museums in the Washington area this course will provide students with the chance to use what they have learned in their prior courses as well as develop new skills in actual museum settings, including exhibitions, public programming events, and behind-the-scenes conservation and storage facilities. Students will work on directed activities during the two-week period. Students must have completed a minimum of two courses in the program to register for this class.

Core Courses

(select three of the following four courses)

460.604 – Introduction to Museum Education
This course introduces students to the educational role and mission of museums in a pluralistic society; provides an overview of the museum as a learning environment with an emphasis on organizational structure and institutional history and explores the role and integration of analog and digital technologies in educational services, products and programs designed to serve various audiences.

460.606 – Exhibition Strategies
This course introduces the diverse strategies and approaches used in exhibition planning, development, and implementation. It gives students the skills needed to think critically about exhibitions and the interface between objects, concept, and experience. The course focuses on visitor-centered interpretive design and is applicable to a wide range of institutions. At the conclusion of the course students will produce a comprehensive exhibition design project, as a member of a team, by walking through the practical steps in exhibition design.

460.608 – The Business of Museums
Museums are stewards of cultural heritage, vortices of knowledge and arbiters of taste. They are community icons, places of respite and public education adjuncts. Museums don't necessarily deal in products for profit, yet they compete in an entertainment ecology. They must cultivate members and donors, while they rely on programs, gifts, grants, sponsorships, retail operations, and planned giving to survive. Students will explore the range, fundamentals, and subtleties of the museum business including mission, governance, programming, management, finance, fundraising, facilities, legal and ethical issues, technologies, and audiences.

460.609 – Museums in a Global Perspective
This course explores economic, political and social issues that link museums to a wide-range of national and international communities; examines the significant effects and challenges of the globalized world on the museums’ mission, preservation of cultural heritage, and exhibition practice.

Elective Courses

460.611 – History and Philosophy of U.S. Museums
From cabinets of curiosities to historical monuments and sites of memory, this course surveys museum history in the United States to examine how the museum's function has changed over time. Through case studies and course readings in museum history, theory, and methods, students will contextualize the philosophical trends that have impacted organizational structures, exhibition strategies, and the museum’s role and relationship to its public.

460.614 – Ethnically Specific Museums
This course examines the history, significance, and potential of ethnically specific museums to enliven the debate about who we are as a nation through our shared experiences and heritage including a look at six diverse museums including; the National Museum of the American Indian, the Japanese American National Museum, el MUSEO del barrio, the Arab American National Museum, The Jewish Museum, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

460.617 – New Technologies, Old Dilemmas: Ethics and the Museum Professional
This course explores the broad range of ethical issues in the 21st-century museum as related to new technologies including how current business ethic theories can be applied to the museum, how to critically evaluate new technologies before adoption, and how and when to establish ethics policies.

460.618 – Museum Controversies: Ethical Issues in Museums
Museum administrators and curators have faced an array of ethical dilemmas in an increasingly contentious environment. This course explores the historical, political, and cultural backgrounds to controversies surrounding exhibitions such as the Smithsonian’s display of the Enola Gay, the Brooklyn Museums of Art’s “Sensation,” and the showing of illegally acquired antiquities at various art museums.

460.621 – Evaluation Theory and Techniques for Museums
This course covers evaluation theory, methodologies, and practical implementation of evaluation in museums and similar environments. The class explores the stages of evaluation, what can be achieved at each stage, and how those stages fit into educational technology development. Students practice developing clear evaluation questions, choosing appropriate methods, and assessing the benefits and trade-offs of different evaluation strategies. Emphasis is given to the opportunities and challenges of evaluating technology-enriched programs and exhibitions.

460.628 – Architecture of Museums
This course serves as an introduction to museum architecture, including the history of the museum building, current case studies of renovations, expansions, and new facilities, as well as discussion of topics of concern in creating a physical museum space such as matching the museum program planning to the design, visitor experience, wayfinding, building a green museum, and incorporating technology in the initial plan.

460.635 – Curatorship: Principles and Practices
Whether the museum is large or small, public or private, has several curatorial departments or a single director/curator, it must have a way to fulfill its curatorial obligations. Everyone in the museum should understand the institution’s curatorial responsibilities, and every museum should have a curatorial strategy suited to its collection and/or its exhibitions. In this course, students will study principles and practices relating to core curatorial functions and learn about the relationship of curatorship to the museum’s mission, ethical and other challenges facing museums, and how technology is changing the ways museums fulfill their curatorial responsibilities. Students will draft a position description for today’s curator, write an acquisition proposal, present an exhibition proposal, and visit museums to critique specific curatorial practices.

460.640 – Educational Programming for Museum Audiences
Educational programming for today's museums requires more skills than ever before, from defining mission driven educational goals to conducting summative evaluation, from understanding learning theory and characteristics of a myriad of museum audiences to designing and implementing technology solutions. Students in this course will learn the steps needed to design sound educational programming in museums, including developmentally appropriate learning theory and strategies for audiences such as children, families, adults, teachers and students.

460.642 – Creating Online Learning Environments for Museums
This course will address how museums can develop and present their collection materials to create effective online learning environments. The majority of class work is dedicated to thinking about museum learning in an online context and understanding how low-cost web-based tools (such as blogs, wikis, and content creation applications found in public websites like Google) can be used to create informal and formal learning experiences that mirror or expand onsite museum learning experiences. Existing social networking and media distribution sites (such as Facebook and Flickr) will also be examined for educational potential in a museum context. The class will culminate in a final team project to create an educational website proposal for an actual museum.

460.645 – Collaboration by Design: Museums and Web 2.0
This course examines how Web 2.0 technologies are used by curators and museum educators to expand a museum's collection by promoting new methods of collaboration with other museums and institutions. These same technologies can also enhance a visitor's experience by transforming their role from one passive to that of an active participant in the creating personalized exhibitions and learning experiences. Students will also explore how the learning theories of Seymour Papert (communities of learners), Howard Gardner (multiple intelligences) and Roger Schenk (narrative) play an important part in developing practical applications of Web 2.0 technologies such as flickr, Steve.Museum, Nexhibition, wikis, blogs and others.

460.651 – History, Trends, and New Developments in Museum Publishing
The course will provide a broad overview of the history and philosophy of museum publishing, from its earliest days to the present. Students will study the range and evolution of museum publications, from traditional exhibition catalogues and collection volumes, to newer types of museum communication tools such as Web sites and in-gallery kiosks. This course will examine the ways in which museums create publishing programs to balance the needs and interests of their staff and constituents, including students and teachers, scholars, and the general public.

460.652 – The Practice of Museum Publishing
As content originators, museum curators, educators, conservators, public relations officers, development staff, and others will hold a stake in the publications process at some point in their careers. This course presents an overview of the range of print and electronic publications typical--and not so typical--of museums and the processes required to make them happen. Students will gain an understanding of schedules and budgets, the editorial process, design concepts, copyright issues, and printing, as well as how new technologies have affected both the way museums think about publications and how they get produced.

460.655 – Expanding Roles of Museum Marketing and Communications
This course explores the core responsibilities and the expanding roles of museum marketing and communications in an era of increasing competition for people’s time, attention, and resources. Topics range from market research and branding to crisis communications and social media. Creative and strategic thinking and collaboration will be emphasized and models from throughout the world will be presented and discussed.

460.657 – Fundamentals of Museum Fundraising
Through a combination of current and historical readings, case studies, discussions, and written assignments based on “real-life” scenarios, this course will cover general fundraising strategies and ethics, ePhilanthropy, cultural tourism, prospect research, grant writing, annual and capital campaigns, corporate giving and cause marketing, special events and stewardship.

460.660 – Management of Technology in Museums
Every manager is constantly making decisions. To be better informed is to make better decisions. A successful manager of technology staff requires an understanding of the principles that support the various technologies in a museum environment, but does not necessarily have to be a technology professional. This course, tailored to individuals with little or no technology background, presents the principles necessary for any non-technical supervisor to have the tools and confidence to successfully oversee staff and production in a technical museum environment.

460.662 – Internet Strategies
The Internet has made it increasingly possible for museums to extend their mission by quickly and cost-effectively publishing information to a broad audience and expanding their reach to those who may never step foot inside their physical walls. At the same time, the Internet provides new tools to help museums attract and cultivate local audiences and enhance on-site visits. In this course, students will survey the many means and methods available to museums on the Internet, including informational Web pages, online exhibitions and collections, and newer tools such as blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, and social networking. Consideration will be given to critical issues such as audience research, usability, marketing, legal matters, and strategic planning. Using concepts covered in the course, students will receive hands-on experience planning a Web development project.

460.666 – Collection Management
Museums exist to preserve and share their collections with the world. Collection managers, or registrars, are essential to any collecting institution, whether collections are art, history, science, or live specimens. This course focuses on the management of art and historic collections, although the principles can be applied more broadly to any type of collection. The course covers all aspects of collections care from the acquisition of objects, evaluation, care and storage, through loans and exhibitions. Safe collections care and handling using the most current methods are emphasized so objects may be preserved for future generations. Any student who intends to work at a collecting institution will benefit from mastering the practical knowledge and skills underpinning many phases of museum work, which will be taught in this class.

460.667 – Collections Information Management Systems
Collections Information Management Systems are the foundation upon which staff members and public audiences access collections information for myriad purposes. No longer silos of data about collections care, these systems are now being integrated with digital asset and content management systems; are used as collaborative tools, and are part of production activities throughout the museum. This course examines how these systems have evolved from static information archives databases to repositories for interaction and production, while focusing on the fundamentals of planning for the acquisition and implementation of an enterprise-wide collections information management system. Students will undertake a series of practical assignments and activities, including how to conduct a needs assessment, define requirements, author a request for proposal, assess responses, select a system, define data entry standards, and implement a system in an institution.

460.668 – Cataloguing Museum Collections: History, Trends, and Issues
Cultural heritage institutions—including museums, libraries, and archives—have as core responsibilities the safeguarding of the objects in their care and the education of the public about these objects. To support both of these responsibilities, one of the foundational activities of cultural heritage professionals is the cataloguing of the objects in their collections. This course will provide an overview of the definition, philosophy, rationale, practices, and problems of cataloguing cultural objects; a review of the uses of the cataloguing material produced by registrars, curators, authors, and other personnel of museums; and a glimpse of some interesting trends in cataloguing that include the solicitation and management of cataloguing information from museum visitors; the development of multilingual cataloguing strategies; and new tools that create opportunities for cross-collection aggregation and search.

460.682 – Procurement, Project Management, and Collaborations
Through case studies and sample materials of a variety of museum projects—with emphasis on complex multimedia transactions and online activity—students will gain a practical road map for defining a project, building internal support, soliciting proposals from vendors and contractors, and managing people, processes, and money. Students will learn best practices and acquire a deeper understanding of the contractual, legal, technical, and creative issues that museums typically face when working with vendors. Most importantly, students will acquire the tools necessary to help them navigate and set the expectations of their museum clients to assure successful collaboration between internal teams and external contractors.

460.684 – Museums and the Economy
This course begins with an overview of how changes in the economy can affect museum fundamentals such as finance, fundraising, and attendance. Students then look at case studies of large and small institutions to become familiar with the tools that museum managers can use to assess how sensitive their institution is to changes in the local economy. This course also explores existing cost-benefit analyses of museum practices based on case studies and other analyses of museum financial data to measure the short- and long-term impact of resource allocation decisions.

460.750 – Museum Internship
An internship or project at a student's local museum, approved by the associate program chair, may be substituted for one elective course. To fulfill the internship requirement, a student must complete 80 hours of work onsite and a ten- to fifteen-page research paper on an approved topic related to his/her experience, due at the end of the semester. Before registering for the internship option, the student should contact the Associate Program Chair for approval. At least four to six weeks before the beginning of the semester in which the internship will take place, the student must submit: 1) a description of the intended project, including activities and/or responsibilities; 2) learning objectives and goals; 3) why this experience should be part of the Museum Studies degree; and 4) a signed letter of commitment from the internship supervisor.