The Museology Program is designed to provide the generalized training, knowledge, and skills necessary to pursue a professional career in museum work. The program is directed toward the training of a broad range of museum professionals interested in curation and management of collections in anthropology, art, botany, geology, history, and zoology as well as in interpretive programs and museum administration. Courses include required core museology subjects as well as a range of classes offering students the chance to specialize in interest areas.
Course work is divided between the theoretical and practical aspects of museum operations.
Classes take the form of lecture courses, seminars, special lectures by guest speakers, field trips, laboratory and collection management courses, practicums and internships. Since admission to the program is highly selective, classes are small and students have close contact with faculty. Practical experience, an essential component of the program, is provided by several museological institutions at the University of Washington, including the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, the Henry Art Gallery, the Herbarium, the Arboretum , the Fish Collection, and the University Libraries. The Burke Museum acts as the coordinating unit of the program. It has nationally and internationally ranked collections focusing on the anthropology, geology, and zoology of the Pacific region and Pacific Rim.