Museum Studies Programs and Degrees
Museum Studies Master's Degree
The Museum Studies master’s degree requires 36 credit hours.
The curriculum provides a comprehensive overview of the discipline, opportunities for grasping core components of museum practice, avenues for exploring the interdisciplinary nature of museums, grounding in current issues facing them, and possibilities for research to develop new and innovative approaches in the field. You’ll also complete 500 total museum experience hours, including at least 250 hours in an approved internship.
Our graduates work as collection managers, educators, exhibit designers, curators, archivists, directors and more at museums and historical agencies across the country and around the world.
Museum Studies Graduate Certificatre
The Museum Studies graduate certificate requires 15 credit hours to complete.
The program of study provides a grounding in the histories, concepts and practices of the museum studies discipline, and enables students to integrate knowledge of museum studies into their own academic disciplines or professional training.
The certificate represents an additional credential for students from a variety of academic fields to prepare for doctoral study, as well as for employment in museums and related fields such as historic preservation, cultural resource preservation, archives and government agencies.
PLEASE NOTE: This program is open to current KU students pursuing master's and doctoral degrees in other academic units. We do not offer a standalone certificate option for non-KU students.
Previous Museum Studies Internships
Digitization Assistant: Spencer Research Library-University of Kansas
Mammal Collection Intern: Natural History Museum-University of Kansas
Academic Programs Coordinator: Spencer Museum of Art-University of Kansas
Museum Collection Intern: Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, OH
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Collections & Education Intern: National WWI Museum and Memorial-Kansas City, MO
Project Coordinator: New York Botanical Garden-New York, NY
Education Assistant: Kansas Museum & Historical Society-Topeka, KS
Collections Intern: Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation at Taliesin West-Scottsdale, AZ
Institutions Employing Museum Studies Alumni
Collections Specialist: Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum-Nashville, TN
Exhibitions Manager: Watkins Museum of History-Lawrence, KS
Coordinator Interpretation and Adult Programs, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art-Kansas City, MO
Exhibitions Project Coordinator: Field Museum-Chicago, IL
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Lead Visitor Services Coordinator: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture-Washington, D.C.
NAGPRA Registrar: Phoebe A Hearst Museum of Anthropology-Berkeley, CA
Assistant Curator of Youth & Adult Education, National Museum of Wildlife Art-Teton County, WY
