Our
new Museum Studies concentration within the art history major, inaugurated
in Spring 2007, requires the following ten courses: Museum Studies; two
Museum Studies internships; five art history courses; Introduction to
Management or Fundamentals in Marketing; and Senior Seminar in Art History.
A Museum Studies minor can be earned by taking two art history courses,
Museum Studies, and one Museum Studies internship.
The Museum Studies course (4 semester hours) provides an introduction
to the structure, operations, and social and political functions of museums.
Topics include funding, management, marketing, ethical issues, exhibition
strategies, and educational outreach. We also consider the practical,
ethical, and legal issues related to the acquisition, handling, conservation,
and exhibition of museum objects. We have frequent informal panel presentations
by museum professionals in the area and also take field trips to study
the behind-the-scenes operations of various museums.
The first Museum
Studies Internship (4 semester hours) requires at least 12 hours of
work each week during the semester at a local museum, gallery, or arts
commission as well as weekly meetings to discuss readings with the Art
History mentor and other interns. Students write a journal related to
their work and also a series of reading responses.
The second Museum
Studies Internship (4 semester hours) requires a similar number of
work hours, but instead of weekly readings and discussions students write
a research paper (8-10 pp.) related to some museum issue or controversy.
This internship can be taken during the summer at a museum or gallery
outside of Jackson, with prior approval of the Art History mentor.
Senior Comps are similar to those for the art history major without a concentration
in Museum Studies (see link at the right), with some additional possibilities
for the senior paper. Students can either write an art history research
paper or can do a senior project that is more closely connected to the
field:
1) Design an exhibition
(virtual or actual) centered around a significant theme, choose your works,
and write the accompanying labels and an exhibition catalogue that includes
an introductory essay as well as catalogue entries for each work of art.
An actual exhibition could perhaps be arranged in the Lewis Art Gallery
or even a local gallery, but since museums and galleries determine their
schedules a year or more in advance this would probably require making
initial contacts in the fall of your junior year. A virtual exhibition
could be displayed in the form of a web site or on a CD/DVD. An exhibition
could also be displayed in the form of color photocopies of the images,
mounted in some way, and hung in one of the art spaces.
2) Write a research
paper based on a comparison of several similar exhibitions, on the same
artist(s) or theme. What were some of the significant differences in approach?
What were some of the controversial issues raised? This would include
art historical research as well as research of the reviews of each exhibition
and the choices made by the museums about the works to be included, the
layout, the catalogue, etc.
3) Write a research
paper based on a significant museum issue or controversy.
4) Base your paper
on a sociological study of museum practices, either from the perspective
of museum visitors or museum personnel. Your research would entail surveys,
questionnaires, or interviews, as well as research into similar museum
studies done elsewhere.
Useful Links:
Bibliography
of Museum Studies books in the Millsaps Library and/or Dr. Elise Smith's
office
Selected
Mississippi Museums, Museum Staff, and Contact Information
Mississippi
Museum of Art
Museum
Jobs
Museum
Employment Resource Center
Art Museum Network
American
Association of Museums
Museums
and Galleries Directory
Smithsonian
Center for Education and Museum Studies
Graduate
Programs in Museum Studies
Committee
on Museum Professional Training
