Museum & Curatorial Studies Minor
Download as PDF
Program description
The Museum & Curatorial Studies Minor invites students from diverse majors to engage in the study of museum history and practices including curating, managing collections, and designing exhibitions. The minor provides a foundation of museum history and theory spanning multiple disciplines, while also supplying exposure to museum careers and the skills that sustain them. Professional training through an internship at a local museum, gallery, or archive is a requirement of the minor.
The MCS minor addresses students and future professionals across the arts, humanities, and social, biological, and physical sciences. The methods of collecting and organizing objects for display are shared among the museum institutions, whether they focus on arts, sciences, history, or culture. Indeed, collections of natural history and visual culture have been entwined since the premodern era, and our contemporary museum culture continues to tell stories about the interconnected world. As such, this minor reveals connectivity across fields to demonstrate the shared work of museums to preserve and present all forms of knowledge and culture, whether botanical specimens, ancient sculpture, Hmong textiles, or video art.
Through a rigorous combination of coursework and professional experience, this program prepares students for graduate school and/or entry level positions in museums, galleries, and archives. Electives and internships will provide students with opportunities to learn skills such as the collection of object-based data, digital documentation, cataloging objects, and the use of digital tools for spatial planning. They will also learn to conduct scholarly research and to write clearly and concisely for a range of different audiences. Skills learned through the minor’s curriculum contribute to career readiness for a range of fields, including but not limited to: design, digital communication, writing and journalism, collection management, intellectual property, education, and administration.
The MCS minor addresses students and future professionals across the arts, humanities, and social, biological, and physical sciences. The methods of collecting and organizing objects for display are shared among the museum institutions, whether they focus on arts, sciences, history, or culture. Indeed, collections of natural history and visual culture have been entwined since the premodern era, and our contemporary museum culture continues to tell stories about the interconnected world. As such, this minor reveals connectivity across fields to demonstrate the shared work of museums to preserve and present all forms of knowledge and culture, whether botanical specimens, ancient sculpture, Hmong textiles, or video art.
Through a rigorous combination of coursework and professional experience, this program prepares students for graduate school and/or entry level positions in museums, galleries, and archives. Electives and internships will provide students with opportunities to learn skills such as the collection of object-based data, digital documentation, cataloging objects, and the use of digital tools for spatial planning. They will also learn to conduct scholarly research and to write clearly and concisely for a range of different audiences. Skills learned through the minor’s curriculum contribute to career readiness for a range of fields, including but not limited to: design, digital communication, writing and journalism, collection management, intellectual property, education, and administration.
Program last updated
Fall 2026