The Minor in Museum Studies

The primary goal of the undergraduate minor in museum studies is to teach students how museums work, both in historical and contemporary contexts. Doing so involves learning to critically engage the historical, social, cultural, artistic and scientific dimensions of heritage, both tangible and intangible, within the museum. The museum studies minor seeks to foster “museum literacy” by introducing students to the processes by which meaning is inscribed upon objects within the context of museums and to the roles museums, broadly defined, play in society. Objects and Collections, Institutions, and Society thus form the curriculum’s conceptual foci.

The minor also seeks to achieve a number of secondary goals: the acquisition of new content knowledge as well as new models for understanding culture and society both locally and globally, a heightened awareness of the points of view derived from multidisciplinary study, an increased capacity for critical thinking and observation, and personal empowerment derived from becoming more informed users of cultural assets. Despite being situated in the College of LS&A, the undergraduate minor has been designed to accommodate concentrators from other schools and colleges at the university.

The undergraduate minor in museum studies is an 18-credit program. Students are required to take MUSEUMS 301, 401, 409 and three electives.