The goal of the program is to provide, in a museum environment, the basic scholarship and functional training to equip the student with the skills necessary to assume professional entry-level museum positions.

The program is listed and administered through the Anthropology Department at UW-Milwaukee and taught off-campus at the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) by museum professionals. All applicants to the Museum Studies certificate program must comply with a background check as required by Milwaukee Public Museum policy. Individuals with criminal records cannot be admitted to the program. The program is broad-based and any UW-Milwaukee graduate student may apply. Students from all over the US and from a wide variety of disciplines have participated in the program.

The program is designed to supplement a student’s graduate degree requirements, and it is anticipated that each student will have a firm footing in his/her academic field to support the course of museum study.

The Museum Studies program provides an overview of museum work, including:

• philosophical and contemporary issues
• museum history and methodology
• collections care and management
• curation
• interpretation
• preventive conservation
• exhibition

Coursework is structured to develop a high degree of professionalism and responsibility, skills in problem solving, critical thinking and evaluation, writing, oral presentation, decision-making, and teamwork.

The program stresses professional museum standards and ethics and proper care and interpretation of collections while providing the opportunity for the development of expertise and special skills. The program is designed to be practical and realistic.

Regular individual academic advising and career planning are important features of the program. The majority of graduates of the program find a paid position in a museum within one year of graduation. Graduates of the program have assumed responsibilities in museums and related institutions across the country as directors, curators, collections managers, registrars, educators, and more.

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  Museum Studies

  Graduate CertificateOn Campus