Past

Research and evaluation are critical for museums and similar institutions. In this time of data-driven decisions and public accountability, it is especially important to authentically collaborate with communities and stakeholders, which we will explore...

This course examines learning theories that have shaped – and are shaping – the development of programs and exhibitions in museums and similar informal learning environments. We explore the wide variety of ways learning happens in museums, focusing on the...

Surveys are an important basic way to collect information about audiences and their experiences, preferences, motivations, and backgrounds - in museums as well as other organizations. Data about audiences are key to informed organizational decision-making...

Objects embody natural processes as well as human activity and can connect people, places, and ideas. This course invites students to begin examining the role of objects in learning and teaching, especially, although not exclusively, in museum contexts...

In this interdisciplinary proseminar, students develop the writing skills necessary to produce a successful graduate-level research project on a topic relevant to the field of museum studies. During the first half of the course, students read classic...

This course introduces students to the full range of writing encountered while working in the museum field. Rather than being aimed narrowly at writing for an academic thesis, it opens out the role of writing in museums to all forms of written...

Visitors are an essential component of museums, without them the buildings would only be warehouses or archives. Understanding visitors is a necessary component for understanding museums. This course examines the progression of learning theories that have...

Objects embody natural processes as well as human activity and are ubiquitous in our everyday lived experience. They can connect people, places, and ideas and are open to interpretation through a range of disciplinary lenses. This course invites students...

Along with schools, museums are one of society's most visible institutions of learning. Changing perceptions of museums and their role in society, combined with contemporary ideas about cognition and human development, make today's museums a fascinating...

In the ancient world, a museum was a place where ideas were exchanged. Using that definition as a starting point, this course examines the intellectual life of museums beginning with concepts of collecting and cultural property in the medieval period. We...