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ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Program in Museums and Society is concerned with the institutions that shape knowledge and understanding through the collection, preservation, interpretation, and/or presentation of objects, artifacts, materials, monuments, and historic sites. Through classroom teaching, research, and real encounters with museums (broadly defined), the Program promotes the study of material culture and its place in a wide range of scholarly disciplines. The role of such institutions and their contents in societies both past and present, including but not limited to their political, legal, ethical, and economic significance, is central to the Program’s concerns. In addition to curricular and scholarly activities within the University, the Program promotes meaningful connections with local and regional museums. Requirements for the Minor Practicum courses include those designated as “practicum” [P] because of their dependence on work with objects and/or within a museum, Museum Matters (389.203, a writing intensive course centered on visits to museums, offered alternate spring semesters with prioirty given to freshmen and sophomores), advanced museum internships, hands-on independent study, or some combination of the above. Together with the Associate Director, the instructor will determine whether a course qualifies as practicum work. Among the six courses, at least three must be upper level (300-level or beyond) and at least two primary departments, beyond Museums and Society, must be represented. Primary departments are defined either as the home department for the course (identified by the course’s three-digit prefix) or as the first cross-listing beyond Museums and Society. This requirement is in keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of the Minor, and students should seek guidance from the Associate Director to ensure that they are fulfilling it properly. Up to three credits of museum-based internship work and/or Museums and Society Academic Enrichment Intersession courses can be taken for a mark of satisfactory/unsatisfactory. The remaining 15 credits must be taken for a grade. No course, other than the 1-credit internship course, may be counted toward the minor more than once. A checklist is available here and further suggestions are available through the Office of Academic Advising. Internships and Independent Studies Museum internships may be done for Museums and Society practicum credit. The Program offers some basic guidelines for locating internships, including hosting an annual fall roundtable, but students are responsible for seeking out and securing such opportunities on their own. Students interested in doing an internship for Museums and Society credit should first consult the University’s Independent Work Policy (significantly revised as of June, 2007) and secure the support of a faculty sponsor, ideally a specialist in the particular field of study, Then, in consultation with the Associate Director, the faculty sponsor, and the on-site museum mentor, the student should write a proposal for the internship that explains the work to be undertaken at the museum and defines a related academic project for which credit will be given and the terms for its completion. Approval for credit will not be given until this proposal is approved by all three advisors. Credit cannot be received for paid internships. The same, general guidelines should be followed in setting up Independent Study work for credit. In both cases, early and frequent consultation with the Program’s Associate Director is advised. |