Museum Studies Certificate Program

The Museum Studies Program was established in 1963 as a cooperative venture between UW-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Public Museum. 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 in...

• museums
• galleries
• archives
• historical societies
• related institutions

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 is listed and administered through the Anthropology Department at UW-Milwaukee and taught off-campus at the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) by museum professionals. The program is broad-based and any UW-Milwaukee graduate student may apply. Students from all over the country and from a wide variety of disciplines participate in the program, including...

• anthropology
• art history
• botany
• education
• geology
• history
• library science
• zoology

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

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.