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Course Descriptions

LSMS 5113 – The World of a Museum

This class will prepare you to meet the challenges involved in operating or working at a museum. You’ll learn museum management procedures, develop an understanding of the complexity of the museum world and become a well-informed museum professional who’s able to adapt to new challenges and opportunities.

LSMS 5133 – History and Architecture of the Museum

This course will explore the history and architecture of public museums from the late 18th century to the present, as well as major issues involved when a museum plans an expansion.

LSMS 5163 – Museum Management and Leadership

This course will give you an understanding of top-quality museum administration and management, preparing you to meet the challenges of directing and operating successful museums.

LSMS 5173 - Museums, Cultures, and Communities

Museums and their collections no longer stand apart from the communities where they reside and serve. Increasingly, museums are called upon to interact with society in new and sometimes unexpected ways. This course will show you how successful interaction with the public through exhibitions, educational programming, board development and volunteer associations can strengthen a museum’s position within the community, helping it gain and maintain the financial and moral support required to survive.

LSMS 5183 - Collection Management

Just as the types of museums are varied, so is the nature of their collections. This course explores how to make certain a museum’s collections mesh with its goals and aspirations.

LSMS 5190 - Museum Project (Independent Study)

Download the project Guidelines as a PDF

The project will enable you to:

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between theory and application by successfully discussing this relationship in your concluding report.
  • Demonstrate the ability to formulate and/or carry out a specific museum project by successfully completing your described project.
  • Demonstrate the relationship between the specific project and broader museum goals and operations by successfully evaluating its effectiveness for museum operations.
  • Discuss your project within the context of the museum’s mission.
  • Interact with museum colleagues and other professional staff.

LSMS 5203 - Historic Preservation

This course will introduce you to the field of historic preservation, helping you develop an ability to identify and document historic buildings, sites and structures. The readings are designed to acquaint you with the range of philosophies, methodologies and “schools of thought” within the field of historic preservation and to introduce you to its foremost practitioners who are teaching and researching in universities, working within government agencies or operating as independent preservation consultants.

LSMS 5223 - The House Museum

This course will examine different types of house museums. You’ll be introduced to the challenges of conservation and interpretation within buildings that are themselves the exhibit and to the question of objective truth in a historical narrative.

LSMS 5243 - Small Museums

This course will introduce you to the history and nature of small museums in the United States and their significance to the cultural life of communities across the country. The unique issues they face in administration, finance, funding, staffing, program/exhibition development, community involvement and partnership building will be explored.

LSMS 5313 - Museum Education

Because education plays such a vital role in museums, it’s becoming increasingly necessary for museum professionals to have a strong foundation in museum education. In this course, you’ll be introduced to museum education, including object-based learning, learning environments and learning theories, and what fosters the development of effective and motivating educational programs in museums. Although the course is intended for those in the museum profession, it can be applied toward the development of educational programs in other informal education fields.

LSMS 5333 - Introduction to Museum Interpretation

In 1957, Freeman Tilden of the National Park Service defined the concept of interpretation, and pioneered its study and implementation in museums, parks and historic sites. Tilden says interpretation is “an educational activity which aims to reveal meanings and relationships through the use of original objects, by firsthand experience, and by illustrative media, rather than simply to communicate factual information.” This course will introduce interpretation and how it can provoke curiosity about a topic in various media, such as exhibits and programs.

LSMS 5403 - Museums and Native Cultures

This course will help you understand the representational history of Native cultures in museums and the dynamic collaboration between a museum and a culture to accomplish an authentic and respectful presentation.

LSMS 5423 - Controversy and the World of Museum

In this course, you’ll examine some of the most controversial exhibitions of the 1990s, including shows about ethnicity, slavery, Freud, the Old West, the dropping of the atomic bomb by the Enola Gay, Jewish genocide and other cases from museum history of the United States. You’ll also be introduced to case studies from other countries, providing an international comparison on the subject.

LSMS 5700 - Special Problems in Museology

This is a variable topic course and may be repeated with change of content.

LSMS 5700 - Exhibit Development

This course offers an overview of basic areas of museum exhibit development including content, layout, label writing and object display, preparing you to be a productive member of an exhibit team in a museum.

LSMS 5700 - Technology and the Museum

This course examines current best practices in technology and how it relates to the world of museums. You’ll examine ways and resources to connect with museum audiences through current technological trends, how to reach the 21st century crowd and how to enhance your own productivity. The coursework will take you from awareness to potential implementation by assisting you in creating your own technological plan.

LSMS 5920 – Internship

You’ll complete 75 working hours (per credit hour) of field experience directly related to your study focus in the master's program. See also:

Graduate Internship Packet