Overview

Museums in the 21st century have become complex, multipurpose organizations. This program is designed to meet their need for professionally trained employees.

The M.A. program in Museum Professions prepares students for professional careers in museums and other cultural institutions through challenging coursework and concrete experience, melding the theoretical with the practical. Its curriculum is informed by guidelines of the American Association of Museums and the International Council of Museums and aims at developing skills -- in such areas as professional museum work, research, technology, leadership, creative problem solving, and advocacy -- as well as values, including ethical and professional behavior, respect for cultural diversity, and appreciation of the value of museum traditions.... [-]

Taught by curators, working with a rich group of diverse partner organisations in the sector.

Combines contemporary practice with theory in a flexible approach.

Highlights the roles of audiences, collections and new contexts.

We focus on curating as a contemporary practice, bringing together history, theory and practice. We ask what is it that makes the role of the curator distinct, and how do we understand the essentials of curating, when it has become such a buzzword.

The course embraces contemporary curating in historic and collection-based settings as well as contemporary venues, digital, ‘pop-up’ and site-specific contexts. It is delivered by experts in the field and working curators.... [-]

This course provides opportunities to work on live company projects, to volunteer, take work placements, go on field visits and be supported by professional industry mentors.

Museum and Heritage Development is a progressive, interdisciplinary course that combines the academic interrogation of museums and heritage as ideas, organisations and experiences with creative, practice-based approaches to their ongoing development in the 21st Century.

This course is designed and delivered through collaboration with the museum and heritage sector and in partnership with a number of institutions, sites and agencies reflecting the diversity of the sector, including: Museum Development East Midlands, East Midlands Museums Service, Nottingham City Museums and Galleries, Museum of the Mercian Regiment, The Canalside Heritage Centre, National Justice Museum, the National Videogame Arcade, and Barker Langham.... [-]

The Museum Studies Program at GW combines traditional academic training in academic subjects together with museum practices and practical museum experience–a combination that is necessary to begin a successful museum career.

Its location in Washington, DC, the museum capital of the world, allows students to gain practical working experience through the program's affiliation with more than 60 museums and cultural organizations.

The program's reputation for excellence is based on exceptional faculty, a demanding academic curriculum, and a strong internship program. More than 800 alumni work in museums, historic sites, and houses, federal agencies and related nonprofit organizations all over the world.... [-]

A ground-breaking new MA delivered in partnership with the BFI to prepare students to build successful careers in film exhibition, programming, criticism or archival work.

The National Film and Television School’s Film Studies Programming and Curation Masters delivered in partnership with the BFI is designed for students who wish to make a career in the wider film and media culture, whether in the fields of curation, exhibition, criticism, archives, preservation or restoration. The course provides a detailed understanding of the concepts, contexts and critical thought that have shaped the production and reception of film as a basis for engagement with rapidly changing contemporary film and moving image culture. A rigorous academic framework is combined with real-world applications enabling each student to develop their own skills, knowledge, and understanding to provide a strong basis for a career in film and media.... [-]

This course looks at the way that museums, galleries and other cultural institutions are changing to meet the needs of the 21st century. The MA has been designed for students who wish to work as curators, arts organisers, museum professional and other cultural managers and who want to know in particular how these institutions face contemporary issues. It looks at the changing role of cultural provision and how agencies, festivals and flexible organisations shape, house, fund, and disseminate culture today. The course also gives you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the contemporary debates about working practices in cultural institutions, and the changing context in which organisations operate.... [-]

Georgetown University’s M.A. degree program in Art and Museum Studies brings the academic study of art museums together with museum practice and emphasizes the international contexts of museums in the modern world. Through courses, individual research, and internships, students work closely with Georgetown art history faculty, curators, and other museum professionals in Washington DC, and with faculty specialists at Sotheby's Institute of Art in London or New York.

The twelve-month course of study combines courses in museology and art history with internships at some of Washington’s premier art institutions. We examine the changing relationships between the academic study of art and new configurations of museum display and interpretation. Such topics as the roles of museums in modern cultures, museum education programs and audiences, new technologies, collection management, curatorial work and the ethics of acquisition and display are discussed in classes and individual research projects. Our students take part in critical debates about art exhibition and interpretation.... [-]

The master’s in Art History and Museum Studies is designed to give students advanced qualification in art history and a broad introduction to museum work and theory. The program is offered for those hoping to work in art collection-related fields.

It provides students with skills and insights to integrate the theoretical study of art history with practical concerns of displaying, managing, and interpreting art objects in a variety of museum settings. Graduates of this program typically pursue careers as curators, collections managers, educators or administrators in museums and galleries.

Why choose Tufts to prepare for a museum career?

Today's museum professionals are creative problem-solvers, innovators, and leaders. They understand collections, audiences, and how to tell stories. They facilitate visitors' understanding of the past, present, and future through interactions with material objects and scholarship using face-to-face encounters and technological tools.... [-]

Exploring the idea of “exhibition” in its broadest sense across the field of contemporary art, you’ll engage with gallery-based exhibitions and projects in non-traditional venues, site-specific interventions and public art projects.

Reflecting the latest thinking across curatorial studies, this practical and relevant postgraduate course acknowledges the emergence of the artist-curator, as well as more traditional routes to curatorial practice.

You’ll consider the possibilities offered by a range of platforms, from traditional museum collections, museology and archives, to virtual and interactive methods.

You’ll be aided in developing self-initiated curatorial projects, which will see you innovating and exploring ways to cultivate new audiences.... [-]

The Johns Hopkins MA in Museum Studies offers a perspective on the theory and practice of museums in a changing technological, social and political environment. Geared for current and future museum professionals, it emphasizes technology’s critical role in today’s museum. It also examines new models of education, exhibition, and business strategies while exploring the role of the museum as an agent of social change.

We welcome students from around the world interested in all types of museums including history, technology, science, art, special topic or themed museums, historic sites, national parks and zoos as well as those interested in exhibitions for corporations, government agencies and private organizations.... [-]

The University of Lincoln aims to provide an ideal environment in which to advance your knowledge and conservation skills at postgraduate level.

You will have access to a wide variety of historic materials and can choose to focus on remedial treatment, preventive conservation or collections management.

For those already working in conservation, a blended learning option allows submission of practical projects derived from your current place of employment.

The School of History & Heritage has strong links with museums, professional bodies and agencies in the heritage field, which can provide opportunities for placements and study abroad. Please see the Features tab for more information regarding the potential costs of these placements.... [-]

Established 25 years ago and led by Professor Victoria Walsh, the MA Curating Contemporary Art (CCA) programme is recognised both as an international leader in its field and for its commitment to collaborative group project-based work that integrates theory and practice throughout the two years of the curriculum. New areas of focus in response to the expanded field of curating and the widening professional opportunities for curatorial practice and research in a global context include:

Exhibitions and Programming practice focus on curating, commissioning and programming within the physical and defined setting of the gallery/museum space providing a critical, theoretical and practical understanding of the histories and opportunities within this form of curatorial practice.... [-]

Our master of arts (M.A.) degree program in museum studies offers a curriculum based on hands-on training, research, scholarship, and design that prepares you for a wide range of positions in various types of museums. We shape alumni to be resilient, adaptable, and competent working professionals. At the center of the program is the belief that the museum professional serves as the liaison between the viewing public and the museum object.

The program is structured in a manner that enables you to develop an understanding of the relationship between theory and practice. The Syracuse University Art Galleries, the Special Collections Research Center, and the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection and Sue & Leon Genet Gallery at Syracuse University's Nancy Cantor Warehouse provide major settings for education and training. You gain additional experience through internships. We believe that this combination of academic and professional training prepares you for your chosen field and sustains you throughout your career.... [-]

With over 2.500 students, Zurich University of the Arts is one of the largest arts universities in Europe. We welcome students seeking to cross boundaries and bring different fields together because we are convinced that the productive exchange with other disciplines brings forth better, more versatile, and critically minded curators.

We have an excellent network worldwide — thanks to collaborations with over seventy universities in Switzerland and abroad, and with countless partners from the fields of science, culture, business, and industry. This manifold collaboration stands for the national and international relevance of our programs.... [-]

ViCCA explores art in new contexts. Central for the program are the new and emergent professional practices, which are born and developed in the new spaces of cultural production. In the program art making and new professional agencies are explored within the broadened field of visual cultures.In ViCCA theory and practice are tightly interwoven and emphasis is put on developing each student’s artistic, curatorial and theoretical thinking. The programme offers great opportunities to develop research abilities and a sense for artistic and critical thinking. Learning from each other’s different professional backgrounds also plays an important role in the programme. The program offers the chance to broaden one’s professional identity and to create new ways of working, and new forms of professionalism.... [-]