Museum Studies Concentration
Our Museum Studies concentration within the art history major, inaugurated in Spring 2007 and revised in 2011, is designed as a foundation for a career in the museum world, either immediately after graduation or after further graduate education in art history or museum studies. The concentration requires the following ten courses: Museum Studies (ARTH 2500); two Museum Studies internships (ARTH 3002/3102, and ARTH 3200); four art history courses; Junior Seminar in Art History (ARTH 3900) Senior Seminar in Art History (ARTS 4900); and one additional course from the following: MGMT 2000 (Introduction to Management), MRKT 3000 (Principles of Marketing), EDUC 3000 (Instructional Design, Implementation, and Management), EDUC 2000 (Problems in Human Creativity), or EDUC 3660 (Practicum in Arts Education). A Museum Studies minor can be earned by taking Museum Studies (ARTH 2500), one Museum Studies internship (ARTH 3002/3102, or ARTH 3200), and three additional courses from at least two different departments that provide useful supplementary experience. The courses need not be specifically designated as museum-focused or museum- friendly, but the expectation is that they would be courses in which the students could do a project or paper related to museums.
Museum Studies (ARTH 2500) (4 semester hours) provides an introduction to the structure, operations, and social and political functions of museums. Topics may include funding, management, marketing, ethical issues, exhibition strategies, and educational outreach. We also consider the practical, ethical, and legal issues related to the acquisition, handling, conservation, and exhibition of museum objects. We have frequent informal panel presentations by museum professionals in the area and also take field trips to study the behind-the-scenes operations of various museums.
Museum Studies Internship I (ARTH 3002) (2 semester hours). An internship in which a student works at a museum, gallery, arts administration agency, or related site for at least 75 hours during the semester and writes a weekly journal. Prerequisite: consent of art history faculty.
Museum Studies Internship Readings (ARTH 3102)(2 semester hours). A readings course in which students meet frequently to discuss museum-related texts with the art history mentor and other interns. Prerequisite: ARTH 3002 or consent of art history faculty.
Museum Studies Internship II (ARTH 3200) (4 semester hours) An internship in which a student works at a museum, gallery, arts administration agency, or related site for at least 100 hours during the semester or summer and writes a research paper on a museum studies topic. Prerequisite: consent of art history faculty.
The two-semester Teaching Fellowship at the Mississippi Museum of Art will substitute for both ARTH 3002/3102 and 3200. Students must write a weekly journal to be submitted to the faculty mentor.
Instructions for applying for an internship at the Mississippi Museum of Art can be found on their website: http://www.msmuseumart.org/index.php/aboutus/page/internships. You must submit a cover letter, application form, 3-page writing sample, two letters of recommendation, transcript, resume, and short personal statement by the specified deadline.
Senior Comps are similar to those for the art history major without a concentration in Museum Studies (see link at the left), with some additional possibilities for the senior paper. Students can either write an art history research paper or can do a senior project that is more closely connected to the field:
1) Design an exhibition (virtual or actual) centered around a significant theme, choose your works, and write the accompanying labels and an exhibition catalogue that includes an introductory essay as well as catalogue entries for each work of art. An actual exhibition could perhaps be arranged in the Lewis Art Gallery or even a local gallery, but since museums and galleries determine their schedules a year or more in advance this would probably require making initial contacts in the fall of your junior year. A virtual exhibition could be displayed in the form of a web site or on a CD/DVD. An exhibition could also be displayed in the form of color photocopies of the images, mounted in some way, and hung in one of the art spaces.
2) Write a research paper based on a comparison of several similar exhibitions, on the same artist(s) or theme. What were some of the significant differences in approach? What were some of the controversial issues raised? This would include art historical research as well as research of the reviews of each exhibition and the choices made by the museums about the works to be included, the layout, the catalogue, etc.
3) Write a research paper based on a significant museum issue or controversy.
4) Base your paper on a sociological study of museum practices, either from the perspective of museum visitors or museum personnel. Your research would entail surveys, questionnaires, or interviews, as well as research into similar museum studies done elsewhere.
Useful links
- Mississippi Museum of Art
- Museum Jobs
- Museum Employment Resource Center
- Art Museum Network
- American Association of Museums
- Museums and Galleries Directory
- Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies
- Graduate Programs in Museum Studies
- Committee on Museum Professional Training
Millsaps Art Department 