Museum Studies and Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology at Florida State University participates in an interdisciplinary Museum Studies Certificate Program that is an enhancement of Master's level graduate degrees in participating departments.

Members of the committee from Anthropology are Dr. J. Kathryn Josserand, Dr. Rochelle A. Marrinan, Dr. Cheryl Ward, and Dr. Elizabeth H. Peters. Materials for application to this program can be obtained from Lana Burgess in the Office of the Dean, School of Visual Arts and Dance. Their web site is located at http://www.museumstudies.fsu.edu.

Program Description

Florida State University offers an interdepartmental program leading to a certificate in Museum Studies for graduate students who wish to supplement their academic knowledge with specific expertise and training in the museum field.
Interdisciplinary in nature, the program includes students from the arts, humanities, and sciences. The following university programs and departments offer the certificate: American Studies, Anthropology, Art, Arts Administration, Art Education, Art History, Biology, Classics, History, Interior Design, Religion, Textiles, Consumer Science, and Theatre. Graduates of the program will seek employment in science centers, art museums, history, museums, historic house museums, ethnographic museums, natural history museums, and other such museums.

Course of Study

To obtain a certificate in Museum Studies, each student must fulfill departmental prerequisites for the graduate degree plus take additional Museum Studies courses and complete a museum internship. Museum Studies requirements will add one to three semesters to the student's graduate program. Individual departments will ascertain what is required of each student, however, all students who desire a certificate in Museum Studies will complete the following:

2 core courses
2 Elective courses (approved by the student's museum studies advisor)
Internship (6 credit hours, 320 hours of internship at an approved institution)
Internship research paper

Students who have already obtained a graduate degree may enter the program on a special student basis. These students should contact both Museum Studies and the FSU Office of Special Students at 850/644-3574 to apply.

Core Courses

Beginning with the school year 2002-2003, the required courses are as follows:

Museum Studies and Practive, HIS 6934
The Museum Object, ARH 5838

The two elective courses can be selected from existing courses with the permission of the student's faculty advisor. University professors and museum professionals teach core courses and electives on the Tallahassee campus. Approved electives include courses in museum education, museum management, museum informatics, fund raising and grant preparation, historic site preservation, and archive management, among others.
For anthropology students seeking the Master of Arts degree, 6 hours of Humanities credit are required for the degree. Of these 6 hours, 3 hours can be overlapped with the Museum Studies elective courses (if they are qualifying Humanities courses). Approved courses in Anthropology can also be used to meet the course/hour requirements for the Master's degree in Anthropology.
The Department of Anthropology offers a two-semester sequence of Museum Research and Museum Exhibition that allows students to experience the full range of activities related to mounting a museum show. Previous shows have included "Woven Voices: Textile Traditions of the Highland Maya", "Crossroads of Humanity: 50 Years of Anthropology at Florida State University," "Stories in the Sky: Archaeoastronomy of the Americas," "Depths of History: Exploring Archaeology Underwater."
Additional short courses are available during summer sessions in London and Spain. If you are interested in applying for these international opportunities, please contact FSU's International Programs Division at (850) 644-3272 or Lana Burgess at lab0077@fsu.edu.

Internship

A Museum Studies internship is custom-designed for each student to insure worthwhile experiential learning in the student's area(s) of interest. Students must register for a total of at least 6 hours of ANT 5942r, Internship in Museum Studies. The usually non-paying internship consists of a minimum of 320 hours in the museum (which can be taken in increments), and can take place in a local, regional, national or international institution. The internship is undertaken at an approved museum or similar institution, with an on-site supervisor of internship and a sponsoring professor from the Museum Studies Committee members in the Anthropology Department, who together evaluate the student's performance. An internship Prospectus must be prepared by the student, in conjunction with the academic supervisor and the museum supervising personnel. Contracts governing the internship must be signed and submitted to the Museum Studies Program and the Anthropology Museum Studies Coordinator BEFORE the internship is undertaken.
The internship is complemented by a research paper, related to the museum internship experience, that combines theoretical concerns with actual research on collections or similar activities, to be graded by the Anthropology internship supervisor. This is in addition to the project paper outlining work done at the museum and observations made about the museum experience, which must conform to museum expectations as well as to academic standards for manuscript preparation.
Internship documents include 1) a Prospectus of the Internship, 2) a Daily Log of activities undertaken at the museum and hours worked, 3) a Journal, with daily or weekly entries that reflect on the lessons learned about museum work, 4) a Research Paper (see above), and 5) Evaluation forms, including an evaluation of the student by the museum supervisor and an evaluation of the internship by the student. These and all other internship forms are available at the Museum Studies main website.
The Tallahassee area offers many internship possibilities at such places as the Museum of Florida History, Odyssey Science Center, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, and National Park Service Repository. Anthropology students have also served their internships at the Smithsonian Museum, the Museum of the American Indian, the Appleton Museum in Ocala, and the Ringling Museum in Sarasota. Study abroad programs in London and Florence afford students the opportunity to intern at such institutions as the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Career Guidance

Throughout the program, emphasis is placed on future employment in the museum field. The academic program coordinator and museum professionals will assist students in choosing a career path and seeking postgraduate work. Career days, workshops, and seminars will scheduled periodically. The FSU Career Placement Services unit helps students develop effective job search techniques.