Northern Illinois University
Museum Studies

This certificate has been designed to prepare you for careers in public and private museums and related historical societies, archives or other agencies or institutions that work with artistic, cultural or historical materials. It is jointly administered by the College of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and College of Visual and Performing Arts.

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Course Listing

Philosophy, practices and issues involved in acquisition and care of collections, including collection policy, registration and cataloging methods, documentation/research of collections, conservation, and ethics. Lectures, case studies, museum visits and museum practicum. View course descriptions in the Graduate Catalog.

Required Core (12 credits)

• ANTH 562: Museum Methods (Collections Management) (3 credits)
• ART 655: Exhibitions and Interpretation (3 credits)
• ART 654: Museum Administration (3 credits)
• TLCI 657: Museum Education (3 credits)
• Internship (3 credits): 120 contact hours or waived by commensurate prior professional experience as determined by program faculty committee.

Additional Elective (one of the following) (3 credits)

• ART 565: Intro to Museum Studies (3 credits)
• ART 656: Advanced Curatorial Practice
• ART 658: Preventive Conservation Seminar
• HIST 592: Intro to Public History
• ART 625: Museums: Gender, Race, and Class
• ETT 531: Visual Literacy