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Museum Studies

© Chelsea Paige Buffington

There are numerous avenues to becoming employed at a museum. The most common avenues are through History, Art, and Anthropology. You can train for a job in museum administration, in such areas as fundraising, public relations, marketing, volunteer coordination, or human resources. There are also positions as curators and historical consultants. You can work your way to each of these positions through educational programs, internships, and by gaining an entry level position.

Museum Studies is often included as a concentration within Public History (see previous article). The National Council on Public History puts out a Guide to Graduate Programs in Public History, http://www.iupui.edu/~ncph/home.html The Public History Program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington concentrates on Cultural resources Management with topics including Museum Studies,http://www.uncwil.edu/hst/public2.htm At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst the M.A. program in Public History allows for a concentration specifically in Museum Studies, http://www.umass.edu/history/histpub.html Public History programs often include concentrations in administration that will prepare individuals for museum careers.

While there are Museum Studies concentrations within Public History Programs there are also programs devoted solely to Museum Studies. The Smithsonian Institution's Center for Museum Studies offers a variety of opportunities. It offers training including programs and internships, relevant information, and professional sources for individuals working in museums, http://www.si.edu/cms The Smithsonian Institution's Center publishes the Journal of Museum Education, previously titled Roundtable Reports. They have a Museum Studies Database http://www.si.edu/organiza/offices/musst... that includes articles from the journal as well as articles provided by the American Bar Association on the Legal Problems of Museum Administration and they provide a link to the American Association of Museums. Institutions with Museum Studies programs include the University of Toronto http://www.utoronto.ca/museum/index.htm Southern Illinois University at Carbondale http://www.museum.siu.edu/museum/Museum_... and San Francisco State University http://www.sfsu.edu/~museumst/sutro.html

Many Museum Studies Programs are connected to Departments of Anthropology including the MA in Museum Studies at California State University at Chico http://www.csuchico/anth/Museum/MUSStudy... and the Museum Studies Program at the University of Denver http://www.du.edu/duma Others are connected to Art Departments including Juniata College's Museum Studies-Art History Focus program http://www.juniata.edu/poes/museumstudie...

For many historians, museums are ideal. To find employment in museums, the National Council on Public History http://www.iupui.edu/~ncph/home.html may be a good place to start. The Center for Museum Studies at the Smithsonian Institution offers internship opportunities http://www.si.edu/cms and you can check for government museum jobs at http://www.usajobs.opm.gov You should also try newspaper classifieds some of which can be found at http://careerpath.com

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