Museum Studies Courses in museum studies examine the evolving roles of museums and the challenges they face in today's society. A theory class studies collections management, exhibit design, educational programming, fund raising, and the daily operations of museums. The student also plans and develops a multi-interview oral history project on a topic or event of historical importance. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the primary domains of archival practice, appraisal and accessioning of records and papers, arrangement, description, preservation, reference, and access. The course also presents, in case study fashion, the topics of security, law, public programs, administration, and the profession.
Students actively participate in all topic presentations.
The student will be assigned an unprocessed manuscript collection or record group of moderate size to appraise, arrange, preserve, and describe. The instructor will supervise the progress through each activity, suggesting alternative approaches where necessary. By the completion of the course, the student should have a solid foundation in collection processing techniques. The goal of this course is to provide training in the creation of raw data for archival research purposes. Students receive training in the methodology of conducting, transcribing, editing, and indexing tape-recorded interviews with eyewitnesses to or participants in historic events.