Museum Studies program recommendations...?

[deadparrot]

Hi all.

I'm going to be graduating next spring (Class of 2008) with my B.A. in history, and I have a couple questions. I want to pursue a M.A. in museum studies in graduate school. Since it's a slightly obscure subject (at least compared to English, psychology, political science, etc.), I was wondering if anyone had some input on particularly good programs?

Some background: I think I'm a fairly competitive student...I go to a small state liberal arts university that is highly respected within the region for its challenging curriculum. I currently have a 3.92 G.P.A., and it should stay relatively high over the next year, as the most challenging part of my academic curriculum will be over after this semester (next year is mostly a matter of applying to graduate school and jumping through hoops for graduation). I was recently invited to join Phi Kappa Phi, an academic honor society open to only the top 7.5% of the junior class. I've worked as a student research assistant for one of my history professors for the past year (my duties included editing a manuscript of oral history interviews for her upcoming book), and I'll probably be doing an (unpaid) internship this summer at the Missouri Historical Society while working my regular job as an usher and tour guide at a local theatre. I test well, and I'll definitely log some study hours before tackling the GRE, so I don't think that should be a huge problem.

After attending undergrad at a small, rural town in the Midwest, I've decided that small town living really isn't for me in the long run. Since I'm from a Midwestern city to begin with, I'm aiming for a program in, or in close proximity to, a larger city (preferably on a coast), as I want to live and work in an urban environment. Thus far, University of Washington--Seattle, San Francisco State University, George Washington University, and Cooperstown Graduate Program all sound promising. Any comments on these, or other suggestions?

I've gone to undergraduate for only a couple thousand per year, and I'm graduating a year early, so I don't mind spending a bit more for a quality graduate program. However, free money is always good because my family isn't rich, so if anyone knows programs that are particularly generous in terms of grants or fellowships (I don't mind working), please let me know.

Secondly, as I've always been a Europhile, I've been seriously considering doing my M.A. in England (specifically, Nottingham Trent or Newcastle). While both programs accept international students, does anyone know if it's more difficult to find a job in the U.S. with a European degree (believe me, if I could, I would work in Europe, but I know that's a pipe dream given the labor laws...)?

Thanks for your time!

[kellyk0202]

Most Museum Studies Programs are attached to other Academic Departments, such as Art History, History, Anthropology, etc. If you intend to be a curator, you're best off getting a Ph.D. in your field with a concentration or certificate in Museum Studies. If you're more interested in the archival side of museums, you might consider a Master of Library Sciences (MLS) program. If you're interested in the administrative side of things, an MBA or an MA in Museum Studies can be very helpful. Since you're doing an internship this summer, you should talk to the administrators and curators for advice on how to get into the field - take advantage of their experience and ask them if they have any colleagues at university museums whom you might contact.

I'm an Art History major at St. Louis University, I'm starting graudate school for Art History in the Fall. I worked in an art museum for several years, too. If you're interested in Art History-based Museum Studies Programs, I can recommend quite a few. If you're interested in the archival/library stuff, there's a list of uni's with MLS programs here: http://www.ala.org/ala/accreditation/li ... ectory.htm

If you're in St. Louis and you'd like to get together to chat about grad school stuff, I'd be happy to talk to you. I'm a first-generation college student and I basically went into the process not knowing what to expect or what was expected of me.

[Minnesotan]

The AHA site has a list of phd programs by field, region, or various other criteria. I'd check there.

[Cornell07]

I have a friend at Brown majoring in Museum Studies. That's the extend of my knowledge of that field.

[hack]

The value of Museum Studies programs is often debated between those with humanities MA/PhD degrees and those with Museum Studies MA/MS degrees (and others, in Museum Education etc.) who work in the field. I'm linking you to a couple of places where this debate is exlicit:

http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2007/04/w ... l#comments

http://community.livejournal.com/museum ... 53345.html

I haven't read fully through either of those conversations, but I thought it might be worthwhile to view the general terms of this debate as you consider the best program for your career ambitions.

[deadparrot]

Thank you for the links (I know I made the OP a long time ago).

I'm aware of the ongoing debate about program recommendations. That being said, the more I have real-life conversations with people in the field, what job offers ultimately come down to is experience. The official title of the degree is of much less consequence than the experience the applicant has in working with the museum community, officials in the field, etc. So at this point, I'm applying to a range (most of which offer significant internship opportunities) and hoping for the best.

[lxs]

That may be true of smaller museums, but I honestly don't think you would be able to get anything related to curatorial work at a major museum with a degree in museum studies. At the museum where I work, I think you need to have or be in the process of getting a degree in art history to even get an internship. I hope that doesn't come off as snotty, but I think it would depend largely on what you want to do in a museum. For non-profit administrative type stuff, it might be more useful and/or relevant.

[deadparrot]

Again, thank you for your input.

At some point, I may choose to pursue another degree in a more academic subject; however, I don't know if I feel a strong enough passion for a particular era of history, etc., to spend the money on graduate-level education at this point. If I can get some grounding and a foot in the door at a museum and discover that passion, there's a good chance I will go back at some point (and, if I'm lucky, might get my employer to pay for it). Right now, however, my interests are tending away from the curatorial, as I'm enjoying the interpersonal aspect of museum work rather than the hard research/collections stuff. I'm choosing my programs (be they actual museum studies programs or academic degrees with museum studies concentrations/certificates) primarily based on graduate placement rates in museums. Obviously, it's not foolproof, but it's the best I can do.

Things may very well vary from discipline to discipline--after reading over a ton of history museum summer internship positions over the last couple months, the descriptions have consistently requested someone pursuing graduate education in history, museum studies, or a related field--never strictly one or the other. I just finished sending in my slew of internship applications yesterday, so I guess we'll see how it turns out. At this point, though, I don't know if I feel ready to devote myself to strictly one small period of history, as a graduate degree would require--there are several areas that interest me.

[smellie]

Again, thank you for your input.

At some point, I may choose to pursue another degree in a more academic subject; however, I don't know if I feel a strong enough passion for a particular era of history, etc., to spend the money on graduate-level education at this point. If I can get some grounding and a foot in the door at a museum and discover that passion, there's a good chance I will go back at some point (and, if I'm lucky, might get my employer to pay for it). Right now, however, my interests are tending away from the curatorial, as I'm enjoying the interpersonal aspect of museum work rather than the hard research/collections stuff. I'm choosing my programs (be they actual museum studies programs or academic degrees with museum studies concentrations/certificates) primarily based on graduate placement rates in museums. Obviously, it's not foolproof, but it's the best I can do.

Things may very well vary from discipline to discipline--after reading over a ton of history museum summer internship positions over the last couple months, the descriptions have consistently requested someone pursuing graduate education in history, museum studies, or a related field--never strictly one or the other. I just finished sending in my slew of internship applications yesterday, so I guess we'll see how it turns out. At this point, though, I don't know if I feel ready to devote myself to strictly one small period of history, as a graduate degree would require--there are several areas that interest me.

That's similar to what I felt last year before I started rethinking the possibilites that academia had for me.

If you're into the interpresonal aspects of museum work, have you consider going into arts administrations as well? I worked a couple of times for Arts Councils (equivalent to National Endowment for Cultures in the states) in two different countries, and it involved talking to cultural professionals across the genres. My boss was the grants officer for visual arts, but also a freelance curator/consultant. He let me observe some of this meetings and I have to say, it is pretty impressive. So, if you're not particularly attach to museum setting but also general cultural scenes, it's a nice place for an internship. Plus, it's where EVERYONE, including museums, comes for grants and connections - so it's a good way to network

[noahwebster]

Hey Deadparrot,

Here's what I know about the programs you're thinking of applying to: George Washington's is huge--too big for the job market. I have not heard good things about it! Cooperstown has a good reputation in the field (it's one of the oldest).

I also suggest you check out Winterthur's MA program in Early American Culture (they fully fund all their students), and WashU's MA program in American Culture Studies. If you're more interested in history museums than art museums, I would look more carefully at public history programs.

Like everyone else has said, it's definitely worth thinking about what you want to do in the museum world before you go for your degree...

[Guest ausaf]

It sounds like you'd be a great candidate for a degree in Art History. WashU's Department of Art History and Archaeology has connections to the Kemper and a bunch of other museums in St. Louis including:

Saint Louis Art Museum
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis 
Pulitzer Arts Foundation
City Museum
Missouri History Museum
National Blues Museum
Campbell House Museum
International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum 
National Museum of Transportation
Missouri Civil War Museum 
The Magic House
The Griot Museum of Black History
Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum
Laclede's Landing Wax Museum

[Shelley Burian]

Again, thank you for your input.

At some point, I may choose to pursue another degree in a more academic subject; however, I don't know if I feel a strong enough passion for a particular era of history, etc., to spend the money on graduate-level education at this point. If I can get some grounding and a foot in the door at a museum and discover that passion, there's a good chance I will go back at some point (and, if I'm lucky, might get my employer to pay for it). Right now, however, my interests are tending away from the curatorial, as I'm enjoying the interpersonal aspect of museum work rather than the hard research/collections stuff. I'm choosing my programs (be they actual museum studies programs or academic degrees with museum studies concentrations/certificates) primarily based on graduate placement rates in museums. Obviously, it's not foolproof, but it's the best I can do.

Things may very well vary from discipline to discipline--after reading over a ton of history museum summer internship positions over the last couple months, the descriptions have consistently requested someone pursuing graduate education in history, museum studies, or a related field--never strictly one or the other. I just finished sending in my slew of internship applications yesterday, so I guess we'll see how it turns out. At this point, though, I don't know if I feel ready to devote myself to strictly one small period of history, as a graduate degree would require--there are several areas that interest me.

History museums are a completely different ball game than art and they have a very different attitude towards degrees. Very few curators in history museums, except the very large ones have Ph.D.s and the majority of the jobs are in smaller institutions. Museum studies degrees are also much more valuable in history museums. You are absolutely right that it is experience that counts. I was a curator in a small historical society in Connecticut for almost a year and you know what my specialty is? Pre-Columbian South America. But they had absolutely no one who had a clue how to manage a collection and that was what they needed. This is an unusual case, I'm sure, but my experience has been that if you have the bureaucratic, collections management and basic research skills, you stand a much better shot of getting at least some temporary positions to start with, and that gets your foot in the door. The executive director I worked with had a degree in Public History, which I think is more general, so that might be something you could investigate.