Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program

Introduction:

Museums and related places (e.g., art galleries, historic homes, botanical gardens, zoos) are invaluable sites of knowledge in our society. They are charged with caring for and displaying important cultural resources and providing unique learning experiences for visitors. Within the last decade the educational reach of museums has grown, especially in their expansion of public services and efforts to attract diverse audiences. As they form new partnerships with community groups or private organizations to support their programs, museums are becoming exciting places of civic engagement and dialogue as well as sites for innovative research and advanced studies on informal learning

The Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program at the University of Hawai‘i offers students an opportunity to learn about museums, acquire professional experience, and develop research skills while earning a certificate. Currently housed in the Department of American Studies, it is the only official program in the state to offer formalized training for people interested in making a career in museums. The program is the result of a working partnership between the university, local museums, and the Hawai‘i Museums Association.

Through classes, field site visits, guest speakers, summer institutes, and internships, the program offers a broad spectrum of practical and scholarly experiences for enrolled students. In addition to learning about the roles and responsibilities of museum professionals, students will become familiar with the multiple challenges facing contemporary museums. For example, with the erosion of government funding and recent drops in private giving, museums have sought to increase their revenues by turning to cultural tourism and heritage activities. Simultaneous with these concerns, many museums are interested in increasing the participation of Native/indigenous peoples in the respectful presentation and use of Native cultural resources housed within museum collections. These interests and concerns have encouraged museums to seek creative solutions and tackle controversial questions about cultural differences. Students in the certificate program will learn about, and in some cases participate in, the efforts of museums to attract and engage new or non-traditional visitors by mounting innovative exhibitions, extending educational programming, or improving digital access to their collections.

The certificate can be taken by graduate students concurrently enrolled in other degree programs, people wishing to do the certificate only, or museum professionals interested in acquiring information about other areas of museum work or updating skills.

The program consists of six classes or 18 credits (3 credits per class) of which the requirements are:

3 Core Classes
2 Elective Courses
1 Practicum/Internship Course

Core + Practicum/Internship Courses

AMST 683. Museums: Theory, History, Practice-Fall 2006
Course will cover: 1) theories and methodologies utilized by scholars associated with the “new museology,” 2) history of western museums, 3) range of museums and related institutions, 4) contemporary issues in museums, 5) issues pertinent to Hawai‘i and Native Hawaiians, 6) overview of museum governance, management, and ethics.

AMST 684. Museums and Collections-Fall 2006
Course will cover: 1) pragmatics of running a museum with emphasis on the documentation, care, and management of collections, 2) curatorial research/responsibilities, 3) exhibition development, design, and installation, 4) environmental/facilities management and security, 5) emerging technologies and digitizing collections, 6) indigenous curation and preservation issues, 7) grants/grantwriting. Includes on-site visits to museums and lectures/demonstrations by museum professionals and specialists (e.g., registrars, archivists, collections managers, conservators, curators, exhibition designers, and others).

AMST 685. Museums and Communities
Course will cover: 1) recent/renewed interest in public role and responsibilities of museums, 2) issues of diversity and engagement with minority communities, 2) museum education (theory and practice) and programming, 3) visitor studies/research, 4) gender and women, 5) changing representation of Native peoples and importance of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 6) marketing, tourism, and cultural heritage management, 7) financial and legal responsibilities.

AMST 686. Museum Studies Practicum
Applies coursework in museum studies to hands-on activities under the direction of practicing professionals and university faculty. Limited to museum studies certificate students.