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What is Museology and Museum Studies?

Museology and museum studies is the area of study and employment that deals with the operations and management of museums, including the preservation and display of artifacts, art, materials, and works relevant to the theme and scope of that museum. In addition, based on the museums focus, procurement, research, restoration and budgeting may be included in the responsibilities of an individual in this field. The field of study is relatively new though has gained momentum and traction among scholars in recent years.

Career Summary

MEDIAN SALARY

$73,750

PERCENT ABOVE NATIONAL
INCOME AVERAGE

49.74%

TOTAL SECTOR EMPLOYMENT

28,720

Degree Median Salary vs Adjacent Degree Types

Source: BLS, US Census, and IPEDS

2024 Best Museum Studies Programs

Harvard University's Museum Studies Graduate degree Program provides students a foundation of knowledge in museum studies. Enhancing their understanding of exhibition content development and design, museum technology, public outreach, communications, and social media. They have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through intensive courses at Harvard museums, active-learning weekends at Smithsonian museum, and an optional internship. Students work in art galleries, museums, historical societies and homes, universities, and other institutions that have materials and noteworthy objects, such as the Boston Red Sox.

Acceptance Rate

4.64

Student to Faculty Ratio

7:1

Brown University's Public Humanities is a master's program offering a dynamic interdisciplinary opportunity for students interested in careers in museums, historical societies, cultural planning agencies, heritage tourism, historic preservation, and community arts programs. It draws the institution's open curriculum and the wide-ranging resources of Providence's arts and cultural community to connect students to academic and hands-on learning experiences. Students are encouraged to take courses in departments across the University and at the Rhode Island School of Design. They are also able to cross-register for classes at Harvard University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Acceptance Rate

7.07

Student to Faculty Ratio

6:1

Georgetown University's M.A. degree Museum Studies brings the academic study of art museums together with museum practice, and emphasizes the international contexts of museums in the modern world. Students work closely with Georgetown art history faculty, curators, and other museum professionals in Washington DC. Combining courses in museology and art history with internships at some of Washington's premier art institutions. They examine changing relationships between the academic study of art and new configurations of museum display and interpretation. Their students take part in critical debates about art exhibition and interpretation.

Acceptance Rate

14.36

Student to Faculty Ratio

11:1

Johns Hopkins University's MA in Museum Studies offers the theory and practice of all aspects of the museum field, teaching innovative skills and knowledge to meet the challenge of the 21st century. Providing a focus on technology's role in the field, the program explored how museums can attract new visitors, increase engagement, and transform experiences for today's diverse audiences. Their students and alumni advance their careers in all types of institutions from local historic sites and zoos to art, history, science, and special-interest museums. They specialized in a variety of areas including education, collections management, curatorial and exhibition strategies, visitor engagement, business, management, and leadership, and digital strategies.

Acceptance Rate

11.17

Student to Faculty Ratio

7:1

Tufts University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences operates on the cutting-edge of museum practice, combining deep experience with a wider knowledge of issues and trends in the field. The museum studies program has built a strong reputation for helping graduates to develop their careers and hit the ground running in museum jobs. Museum professionals understand collections, audiences, and how to tell stories. They facilitate visitor's understanding of the past, present, and future through interactions with material objects and scholarship using face-to-face encounters and technological tools.

Acceptance Rate

14.95

Student to Faculty Ratio

9:1

Middlebury College's Museum Studies provides students opportunities to craft their study in art history to serve particular interests in museum and gallery work. Course opportunities include Art Museum Theory and Practice, topical seminars utilizing or designing exhibitions in the Museum of Art. Combining a strong foundation in art history with courses that explored issues and practices related to museums. Students have opportunities to craft their study in art history to serve particular interests in museum and gallery work.

Acceptance Rate

15.36

Student to Faculty Ratio

8:1

The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor's Museum Studies degree provides students an engagement with museums in their infinite variety and from an interdisciplinary perspective that draws upon a rich body of museum-focused scholarship and cultural theory derived from multiple academic disciplines. Emphasizing both theory and practice and includes campus-based proseminars/lecture courses, cognates/electives from a variety of fields, and practical/internships. The program hosts a vibrant course of public lectures, workshops, and conferences that bring the local, national and global museum leaders and thinkers to their campus to explore a diverse range of issues and topics affecting today's museums. Students can pursue an undergraduate minor in museum studies. Providing outstanding opportunities to engage intellectually, professionally, and interpersonally with the world of museums.

Acceptance Rate

22.91

Student to Faculty Ratio

11:1

New York University's Graduate Program in Museum Studies offers an innovative course of study in the contemporary theory and practice of museum work. Emphasizing both the interdisciplinary study of museums and courses of practical training. It has prepared more than three hundred graduates for positions of increasing responsibility in museums throughout the world. Students obtain a broad foundation in the history and theory of museums. They pursue personal programs of study and support individual academic and career objectives.

Acceptance Rate

16.2

Student to Faculty Ratio

9:1

The University of Florida's degree in Museum Studies prepares museum leaders of tomorrow to be ethical, socially engaged members of their communities who work to positively make an impact locally and globally through museum work. Students are prepared for a wide range of work in museums, and future academic endeavors, through a rigorous curriculum blending practical work experience with theory. Museum studies is a dynamic and growing interdisciplinary field that examines the history and theory of museum practice around the world. Graduates will have attained the skills and knowledge necessary to pursue careers in all aspects of museum professions.

Acceptance Rate

36.58

Student to Faculty Ratio

18:1

The University of Maryland-College Park's certificate in Museum Scholarship and Material Culture trains students to understand the particular challenges, issues, and opportunities. The program aims to equip students with skills for research, scholarship, and presentation that are appropriate to museums of history, culture, and material life. It augments graduate work in American Studies, Anthropology and Archaeology, Historic Preservation, History, Library and Information Studies, and other disciplines. It is a multidisciplinary cohort of scholars and professionals.

Acceptance Rate

44.18

Student to Faculty Ratio

18:1

The University of Georgia's Graduate Certificate Program in Museum Studies uses a very broad understanding of museums, practical experience in museum work, and the role of museums. Preparing students for museum careers by adding specific, museum-based instruction to existing departmental academic studies. Students achieve the capacity to investigate and accomplish objectives in the museum field through discipline-based knowledge, museum theory, and experiential learning. The instructors and courses offered through this program are interdisciplinary, representing a range of departments across campus.

Acceptance Rate

45.3

Student to Faculty Ratio

17:1

George Washington University's Museum Studies degree responds to the evolving museum profession by combining hands-on training with future-focused theoretical engagement. Students gain foundational knowledge about the state of museum work today. Offering practical skills and the ability to critically engage with developments for students in the field. The coursework offers both breadth and depth in Collections Management, Museum Management, Exhibitions and Visitors Experience, and Public Engagement. Their students come from a range of academic disciplines, from history and anthropology to art history and the natural sciences.

Acceptance Rate

40.84

Student to Faculty Ratio

13:1

Syracuse University's major in Museum Studies offers a curriculum of hands-on training, research, scholarship, and design that prepares them for a wide range of positions in all aspects of museums and cultural heritage. They are committed to shaping their alumni to be resilient, adaptable, and responsive museum 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 them to develop an understanding of the relationship between practical experience and contemporary theory.

Acceptance Rate

44.38

Student to Faculty Ratio

15:1

Marist College's Master's Degree in Museum Studies is designed to meet the academic needs of qualified students from around the world. It is an interdisciplinary advanced degree program that aims to provide students with a combination of significant hands-on practical experiences and an understanding of how museums operate within their social and cultural contexts. Providing students a strong knowledge of the professional field of museology. Offering a much-needed forum for reflection and debate on museological issues in the city and beyond.

Acceptance Rate

49.23

Student to Faculty Ratio

16:1

The University of Washington-Seattle Campus' Museology Graduate degree program prepares students to work in museums as well as a broad range of other cultural organizations. Emphasizing transferable skills in learning and education creating graduates that can be innovators across museums and beyond. They encourage students to try out as many different things as possible. Students think creatively and collaborate to design and build exhibits, create and evaluate educational programs.

Acceptance Rate

51.76

Student to Faculty Ratio

19:1

Baylor University's Department of Museum Studies prepares students for careers in museums, cultural organizations, and related non-profit institutions. Providing them with a strong understanding of museum education, collections management, curation, and administration. They offer a BA and a MA in Museum Studies as well as undergraduate and graduate Minors in the field. The program has a unique blend of academic and professional aspects of the field. 

Acceptance Rate

45.33

Student to Faculty Ratio

14:1

Fashion Institute of Technology's Art History and Museum Professions prepares students for non-curatorial positions in such areas as collections management, development, information technology, public relations, rights and reproduction, and special events. It is an interdisciplinary program that draws strengths in art history, business, technology, and design. One of the skills students gain is developing a network of contacts through guest lectures, field trips, and a faculty connected to artists, curators, and auction houses. Graduates are prepared for an entry-level position or advanced education in the field.

Acceptance Rate

53.89

Student to Faculty Ratio

16:1

The University of Tulsa's degree in Museum Science and Management provides students interdisciplinary coursework and hands-on experience. It is designed to prepare future museum professionals in the areas of administration, fiscal management, collections care, research, and education. Their faculty provide mentoring to ensure students gain a broad understanding of professional opportunities and responsibilities. Graduates are ready to take up careers in museums, historical agencies, archives, national parks, and related institutions.

Acceptance Rate

35.84

Student to Faculty Ratio

11:1

SUNY College at Oneonta's Museum Studies trains creative, entrepreneurial museum leaders committed to generating programs and services for the public good. Students learn by doing tangible, useful work on real-world projects. They dedicate themselves to developing institutions that play a central role in their communities. Encouraging broad public audiences to use artifacts and the study of science, art, and history as a catalyst for social change.

Acceptance Rate

56.04

Student to Faculty Ratio

18:1

Moore College of Art and Design provides students an excellent academic experience. Students have the opportunity to hone their distinct creative voices. Guided by their innovative faculty instructors along the way. Graduates succeed because of exceptional faculty mentors.  The school offers dynamic and comprehensive educational programs for creatively curious youths and adults.  Learn more about the exciting programs offered at Moore College today. 

Acceptance Rate

46.99

Student to Faculty Ratio

7:1

The University at Buffalo's Critical Museum Studies is a pre-professional interdisciplinary MA program. Training future museum practitioners most centrally for curatorial, education, and programming tasks. Balancing critical approaches and nuts and bolts administrative knowledge and substantiates this academic training with a number of in-depth experiential learning opportunities. The program considers the core of museum work and its challenges.

Acceptance Rate

61.08

Student to Faculty Ratio

13:1

Brigham Young University's Museum Practices Certificate provides training in collections management, exhibit preparation, museum education, and legal issues related to maintaining museum collections. Students will gain graduate-level skills and a theoretical understanding of museum registration, collections management system, and related national and international laws, just to name a few. They will gain professional-level competency in the museum field through real-life mentored experiences. They will be able to explore and obtain an assessment of their individual aptitudes for the collections-oriented museum disciplines.

Acceptance Rate

67.49

Student to Faculty Ratio

N.A

Saint John Fisher College's Museum Studies certificate program provides a broad academic approach to the study of museum operations and the museum experience. Students will be proficient with the research methods and current practices used in museums and similar institutions. They will gain skills in setting up exhibits, operating and maintaining historical sites, and documenting historical collections and artifacts. Throughout the program students learn to appreciate and address the challenges of selecting, maintaining, and interpreting material culture.

Acceptance Rate

64.49

Student to Faculty Ratio

12:1

The University of San Francisco offers qualified students access to a top-rated Master's degree in Museum Studies. This degree program prepares students for leadership positions in artistic, cultural, and heritage organizations that operate in a constantly changing social dynamic. Their sixteen-month curriculum is flexible. Providing students with the comprehensive knowledge and hands-on experience to assume a variety of roles within cultural, artistic, and heritage organizations. Producing highly knowledgeable individuals who are ready to excel in the field.

Acceptance Rate

64.42

Student to Faculty Ratio

13:1

Michigan State University's Arts, Cultural Management, & Museum Studies degree combines museum studies and arts management curricula, and as such draws diverse cohorts of students from across the performing arts, visual arts, and music. They are committed to fostering the perspective that management offers an opportunity to engage with people, and to make a difference in community well-being. They connect their students with a rich network of experienced faculty and professional mentors who are immersed in the world of arts and museums. Their values-driven program gives students the tools to be reflective, compassionate, and competent leaders.

Acceptance Rate

71.12

Student to Faculty Ratio

16:1

Top Degrees in Museum Studies

As with most industries, the museum sector continues to rapidly evolve. Museums of the 21st century may look similar to those found a generation or two ago but the differences continue to widen.  The use of technology, interactive exhibits, and access to information at a museum is at an all-time high.  As a result, the degree programs in museum studies also has changed.  With a wider array of degree programs and online degree options, students in the field will be well-equipped to lead organizations into the future.  A summary of degrees in museum studies include the following:

Online Certificate Programs in Museum Studies

In-class certificates or online certificates in museum studies can be offered in two forms: undergraduate and graduate.  Undergraduate certificate programs provide students with the building blocks in a focused, compressed time frame.  Most undergraduate certificate programs can be completed in less than a year based on full-time enrollment.  Graduate certificates are programs designed for qualifying students and practitioners looking to gain additional skills or knowledge in the field.  Certificate programs will vary by school but can include programs such as Museum Studies, Digital Curation, Cultural Heritage, and Non-Profit Management.

Online Bachelor’s Degree in Museum Studies

Online bachelor degree programs in museum studies is a 4-year program for full-time students and longer for part-time students as a function of program pace.  Bachelor degrees in museum studies are conferred as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) as the curriculum bends towards art-derived curriculum.  Coursework will vary from school to school but will generally include classes such as: museums in the digital age, professions in museology, museum education, exhibition strategies, history of museums, business of museums, philosophy of museums, collection management, global studies, community engagement, law, and ethics.

Online Master’s Degree in Museum Studies

The master’s degree program in museum studies is a 2-3 year degree of full-time matriculation.  Master’s degrees in museum studies and digital curation are conferred as a Master of Arts or MA degree.  Coursework will be a rigorous, intensive program geared to prepare students to manage and lead museums of all sizes.  Classes are not identical from college to college but will include variations of the following: exhibition design, architecture, curatorship, living collections, conservation, online exhibitions, exhibit preservations, educational programming, mobile applications, fundraising, technology in museums, museum web projects, social media strategies, introduction to archives, collection management systems, digital preservations, cataloging, leadership, project management, finance, cultural specificity, and museum innovation.

Educational Requirements in Museology

Individuals seeking an education in this field will typically pursue a master's degree at minimum in order to be able to seek employment. As such, individuals may earn a bachelor's degree in museology and museum studies, or in a related field such as anthropology, archaeology, history, art history, library studies or others. A master's degree program prepare individuals with the understanding of layout, promotion, customer service, context and more, allowing the individual to not only manage, but present images and objects in a meaningful and entertaining way.

A curriculum may include:

  • History and Development of Museums
  • Exhibit Presentation
  • Research and Restoration
  • Budgeting and Museum Services
  • Promotion and Marketing
Schools Other Students Requested Information From:

Employment Opportunities in Museology

Museums are located throughout the United States and established for a variety of reasons and themes. Individuals may seek out employment at any such institutions, but will have their responsibilities grow or shrink based on the size and popularity of the given museum. Based on the subject matter covered by such an institution, museums may or may not have laboratories, restoration facilities, research centers, and procurement departments. Individuals may work as curators, providing instruction and museum information to visitors, or may work on the design of a given exhibit, bringing together themes and works in order to create an enjoyable experience.

Job Growth, Salary, and Related Careers

Job growth is expected to increase in the next decade due mostly to the need to modernize records and facilities in order to better preserve and make more efficient a given museum. The average salary of a museologist is approximately $45,000 per year, though may be affected by role, responsibilities, location and size of the museum. Individuals interested in museum studies may also wish to consider careers as archivists, curators, and museum technicians and conservators. Students may research the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) and the Museums Association (MA) to learn more about these trade groups and the benefits members receive.

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