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Certificate Programs
Museum Studies

Certificate in Museum Studies

The Museum Studies Program offers an 18 credit hour undergraduate certificate in museum studies designed to complement a bachelor’s degree and to prepare students for a career in museums or for graduate study. Many of the courses take advantage of the excellent museum community in Indianapolis with behind-the-scenes tours of museums and guest lectures by experts in the field. The Museum Studies Program is interdisciplinary and draws students from the arts, humanities, and social sciences, as well as from the hard sciences.

The undergraduate core courses provide a firm introduction to the theory, methodology, and practice of museum work. An internship in a museum provides the opportunity to apply skills, gain experience, and develop professional relationships. A range of electives is recommended to allow exploration of areas of interest or to develop deeper knowledge in a more specialized aspect of museum work.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Museum Studies M.A. curriculum will:

  • Develop their abilities as critical thinkers by questioning the role of museums in society and think critically and creatively to evaluate and improve that role.
  • Develop self-reflective understanding of their own vocations and professional ethics in the museum field.
  • Develop mastery of professional skills through using a variety of approaches to create original products, such as educational programs, exhibit concepts, strategic plans, of relevance to museums in the community.
  • Develop necessary knowledge and skills to meet professional standards in one or more areas of museum practice including collections, education, exhibit development, administration, curatorial practices, evaluation, and interpretive planning.
  • Engage in and conduct creative research problems that, over time, yield new insights into museums, their missions, their collections, and their engagements with communities and
  • Engage in hands-on learning in an area of the museum field through an internship experience.
  • Become skilled at effectively presenting their work through oral presentations and in written work in formats relevant to the museum profession (ex. exhibit concept documents, object labels, press releases, research papers, catalogue entries, curriculum).

Admission to the undergraduate Certificate program in Museum Studies (MSTD) requires the following:

The Certificate program in Museum Studies (MSTD) requires satisfactory completion of the following:

  • Completion of 18 credit hours in the curriculum below, with a minimum grade of C in each course.

Certificate Requirements:

Museum theory (6 cr.):

  • MSTD-A 403: Introduction to Museum Studies (3 cr.)
  • HIST-H 217: The Nature of History (3 cr.)

Museum methods (9 cr.):

  • MSTD-A 405: Museum Methods (3 cr.)

Two Museum Studies elective courses (6 cr.) Choose from the following:

  • ANTH-A 401: Cultural Resource Management (3 cr.)
  • ANTH-A 460: Topics in Anthropology: Issues in Cultural Heritage (3 cr.)
  • ANTH-E 320: Indians of North America (3 cr.)
  • ANTH-P 340: Modern Material Culture (3 cr.)
  • GEOG-G 418: Historical Geography (3 cr.)
  • HER-H 460: Visual Culture (3 cr.)
  • HER-R 411: Visual Research: Exhibition Design I and II (3 cr.)
  • MSTD-A 410: Museum Education (3 cr.)
  • MSTD-A 412: Exhibit Planning and Design (3 cr.)
  • MSTD-A 414: Museums and Technology (3 cr.)
  • MSTD-A 416: Collections Care and Management (3 cr.)
  • MSTD-A 418: Museums and Audiences (3 cr.)
  • MSTD-A 460: Current Topics in Museum Studies (variable topics- approved examples include: Curatorial Practices Exhibit Planning and Design Studio, Museum Theatre, Native American Representation, Object Based Learning (3 cr.)
  • MSTD-A 494: Independent Learning in Museum Studies (1-6 cr.)

Additional Electives are possible, but must be approved by the Museum Studies program director prior to registration.

Practical museum work (3 cr.): 3 credits required in a museum internship

  • MSTD-A 408: Museum Internship (3 cr.) OR a discipline-based internship such as: ANTH-A 412: Senior Project (3 cr.) done in a museum with a Museum Studies faculty advisor (prerequisites: MSTD-A 403 & MSTD-A 405)