Art and Museum Studies (AMUS)
AMUS 5100 Museum Studies Foundations 0 or 3 Credits
This course introduces students to the state of museums as well as their core functions, history, and critical literature. We will examine recent debates about museums through the lens of gender studies, disability studies, critical race theory, decolonization, and environmental sustainability, with particular attention to social media movements currently calling for change. Assignments will focus both on mastering key concepts in museum studies and on considering how we can change museums to better fit society. Our focus will be on art museums, but selected topics in historic and ethnographic museums will also be considered. This class frequently meets in DC art museums. Art and Museum Studies students only.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies or Art and Museum Studies.
Enrollment limited to students in the MA-AMUS program.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 5200 American Women Printmakers 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the MA-AMUS program.
AMUS 5201 Museums Community Engagement 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the MA-AMUS program.
AMUS 5202 Collections Management 3 Credits
This course focuses on general museum concepts and procedures as they relate to collections (objects and their documentation) and their management (e.g., preparation, preventive maintenance & conservation, housing, problem solving) as a whole. The course objectives are to introduce the participants to basic care and preservation of collections as well as a basic understanding of the history and current status of the governance of cultural materials. By the end of the course, participants should understand the definition and role of collections within a museum context; understand the philosophy of cultural preservation and the meaning of cultural patrimony; understand the importance of collection ethics and the role of collections within museum accountability and accreditation programs; be familiar with museum policy development and the relationship between a collecting plan, a collections management policy, and a collections management plan; understand the importance of a collections management policy, its development, content, and application; and how such a policy governs the daily activities within a museum’s collections.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
AMUS 5203 Museums and Social Justice 3 Credits
What is the role of American museums in fostering social justice? How can museums provide a more inclusive narrative of American art, history and culture? Taking four area museums as case studies, this course will explore how the National Museum of the American Indian, the Freer|Sackler Galleries, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture shape our understanding of American cultural life. We will investigate how museums define ‘art’ in a non-western context, how they collect and display non-western material, and how they use material culture to create a more inclusive historical narrative. We will also consider the relevance of ‘intersectionality,’ ‘agonism,’ and the ‘postcolonial museum,’ and will consider the work of advocacy blogs/groups such as Museum Hue and The Incluseum. In the course of our discussion, students will also learn about three of the core museum areas: collections management, education, and curating, and will discuss issues of diversity in museum audiences, boards, and staffing. This course will require at least three site visits to museums during class time, as well as at least one visit outside of class.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in a Master of Arts degree.
AMUS 5204 MuseumEducation/Interpretation 3 Credits
Students will be active participants in learning about museum education theory and practice. This course situates the functions of museum education and interpretation within the broader context of a changing paradigm in museums, one that gives more emphasis to the visitor's experience. During site visits to area art museums, students will hear educators discuss aspects of interpretation, programming, and research that are unique to their museum. Class discussion will include issues such as new approaches to interpretation, visitor learning in art museums, education programming for varied audiences, building audiences and community, and the relationship of mission to education and interpretation. A group project will allow students to put into practice elements of education programming.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Art History, Art History, Art History or Art History.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 5205 MuseumEducation/Interpretation 3 Credits
This course will examine museum exhibitions that have created public controversy in the twentieth and twenty-first century. Through case studies, we will analyze recent exhibitions at major American museums including Harlem on My Mind (1969) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Perfect Moment (1989) at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, The West As America (1992) at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Sensation (1999) at the Brooklyn Museum, and Hide/Seek (2010) at the and National Portrait Gallery. In addition to exploring these exhibitions, the class will investigate recent controversial exhibitions and art actions from the perspective of the curator and the visitor. The course will include field trips and independent study at the Archives of American Art as well as meetings with those involved in several of the case study exhibitions. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of cultural insensitivities from the perspective of an institution while exploring the responsibilities of museums to the public.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
AMUS 5206 Curatorial Studies 3 Credits
The term “curate” has become ubiquitous in popular culture. Professional art curators are doing the real work and exist at the heart of the art world; however, their role and daily responsibilities remain mysterious to many. This introductory course will encourage students to know the history of the curatorial field, think critically about the discipline as it exists today, understand the specialized challenges and concerns curators face, and acquire practical skills and knowledge for jobs in the curatorial sector with a focus on the institutional environment. Though contemporary art will often be used as an example, processes learned and issues discussed will have wide-ranging applications. In addition to in-class lectures, exercises, and dialogues on topics such as research methods, executing exhibitions, and collections stewardship, students will visit a variety of area institutions and collections to hear directly from practitioners in the field and those who closely collaborate with them. Assignments will include audience-centered writing, in-depth exhibition analysis, and the production of each student’s own exhibition proposal.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Art History, Art History, Art History or Art History.
AMUS 5207 Museums and Digital Media 3 Credits
Within the span of just a few decades, digital technologies have made a profound impact on museums: from how they operate to how the visitor experience is constructed. With an emphasis on interpretation and outreach, this course will explore the impact of technology on museum approaches to collections, exhibitions, and education. A variety of digital media platforms will be covered, including websites, social media, in-gallery interactives, and mobile experiences. We will immerse ourselves in key issues that guide and frustrate the successful implementation of technology in 21st century institutions, such as openness, collaboration, sustainability, and a focus on the museum audience as user. With the help of case studies, guest speakers, and field trips to local museums, we will explore what's possible—and what’s challenging—when it comes to museums and technology.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
AMUS 5208 Museum Administration 3 Credits
This course explores the many facets of leadership and management in the museum setting. Topics include: governance and board relations, strategic planning, fundraising, budgeting and financial management, management of human resources, program and institutional evaluation, and community stakeholders. The goal of the course is to provide tools for understanding the organizational and community context for museum collections, research, interpretation and presentation activities and for garnering public and private support.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 5209 Climate Action in Museums 3 Credits
Seen as some of the most trusted institutions in American public life, museums are uniquely positioned to facilitate public discussion of environment sustainability and climate change within their communities. Surveying the evolution of sustainability in museums over the last fifteen years, this course examines the practical aspects of collections care, interpretation and public programming, operational changes, building construction, and community engagement to examine how changes in museum work can deepen museums' connections to their communities, increase their charitable value, and engage in climate action. Topics include human behavior (the challenge of change, whether in daily practice or major projects, and how museums are so well-suited to support staff, visitors, and communities in making change); mitigation (why and how museums and communities are reducing their negative effects on the environment and what difference can it make to the environment, the climate, and to social and financial stability); and resilience (why and how museums are creatively helping their communities become more environmentally, financially, and socially adaptable in the face of a changing climate and increased impacts from weather events; how museums can share with the public the scientific and social discoveries enabling widespread change). Restrictions: Field of Study: Include AMUS, Art and Museum Studies and ARHI, Art History - Level: Include MN or MC Graduate
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
AMUS 5210 Museum Development 3 Credits
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies, Art History, Art History, Art History or Art History.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 631 Capstone Research Paper 6 Credits
This course is usually offered in SCS because it is a summer course, but it should live in the graduate school, so I wasn't sure what to put down when asked.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
AMUS 6400 Sotheby's London Study Abroad 6-12 Credits
Art Business, taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art, London, is designed for students who are interested both in art history and in how the art world operates. Through lectures, walking tours, and visits to specialist museums and collections in the first week, students are introduced to the cultural history of London and how art has been made, sold, and collected there. Students choose from a number of art, photography and design models, for a personal, tailored program. The business component examines the history, management and legal ramifications of both public and private art organizations. Lectures and seminars are augmented by visits to museums, galleries, historic houses, art and design dealers, and to the auction houses.
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies or Art and Museum Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 6401 Sotheby's NewYork Study Away 6-12 Credits
This course is taught at Sotheby's Institute of Art in New York and is open only to AMUS students. The Contemporary Art course emphasizes connections between dominant ideas of the period and visual languages of art. We study the development of the American art market, visit commercial galleries, auction houses, private collections and public institutions to become familiar with their differing characteristics and functions. Issues in aesthetics and art theories are related to works currently on view in New York. Students who enter in spring semester will be given outlines and reading lists for background preparation. The spring semester emphasizes 1980 to the present, emerging media and markets, art law, and research methodologies.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies or Art and Museum Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 7000 AMUS Billing Placeholder
Level: Graduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 7940 Independent Study I 3 Credits
Under the direction of an AMUS faculty member or an area museum professional, students select and research a topic and prepare a final project. This may include a paper, presentation, exhibition checklist with narrative, or educational program.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies or Art and Museum Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 7949 Tutorial 0-6 Credits
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 7951 Fall Museum Internship 3 or 6 Credits
Internships at museums, auction houses, or other arts organizations provide concentrated practical experience within selected departments. Fall and Spring internships require a proposal, midterm paper, final evaluation, and final internship journal. Summer internships require proposal and evaluation, as well as blog entries, a bibliography, final research paper, and presentation.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to students with a major in Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies, Art and Museum Studies or Art and Museum Studies.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 7952 Spring Museum Internship 3 Credits
Spring internship in museum or art organization
Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the MA-AMUS program.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 7953 Museum Capstone 6 Credits
The final requirement for the Art and Museum Studies MA is AMUS Museum Capstone 7953. The six-credit course consists of three options: 1) a full-time internship at a museum or art-related organization with a short paper; 2) an extended research paper or project only; 3) or a part time internship in combination with a shorter paper.
All students are required to present at the Capstone Symposium during Capstone Week, which takes place at the end of August. Capstone Week runs from Monday through Thursday. The week begins with advising meetings, followed by capstone presentations on student internships and research papers.
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the MA-AMUS program.
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 7954 Summer Museum Internship 3 Credits
Summer internship in museum, non-profit, or art organization
Level: Graduate
Grading: Main Campus (UGrad, Grad)
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment limited to students in the MA-AMUS program.
AMUS 9991 Continuous Registration
Level: Graduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 9993 Continuous Registration
This section is reserved for students who are, aside from finishing Incompletes or making final edits to the thesis/dissertation, completed with all degree requirements. There is no tuition associated.
Level: Graduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.
AMUS 9994 Continuous Registration
Level: Graduate
Grading: No Grade
Course registration restrictions:
Enrollment is limited to Graduate level students.