Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Museum Studies

Course Syllabi

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MSTD A503: Introduction to Museum Studies (3 cr.) This survey of museology introduces students to the history of museums and to debates on the philosophical nature of museums and their roles in society.  The course covers the types and definitions of museums, traces the history of museums, discusses contemporary museum practice, and examines current issues in the museum profession.

MSTD A505: Museum Methods (3 cr.) This survey of museum practice introduces students to methods, skills, and resources in three areas of museum work:  artifacts, interpretation, and organizational administration, as well as to the ethical ramifications of these methods.

MSTD A508: Museum Internship (1 - 6 cr.) An arranged learning experience in museum work appropriate to individual career goals focusing on an aspect of museum practice and working with a museum mentor. May be repeated.  Prerequisites:  A503 and two other Museum Studies graduate courses or consent of the instructor required. Authorization of the instructor required.

MSTD A510: Museum Education (3 cr.) This survey of museum education introduces students to a variety of professional skills through exercises, projects, museum visitor observation, and in-museum classes.  It covers education theory most central to museum practice, the duties of museum educators, and current issues in museum education.

MSTD A512: Exhibit Planning and Design (3 cr.) This course offers an introduction to museum exhibit planning and design through an integration of theory and practice.  This class introduces students to exhibit development, design process, and evaluation, and to a variety of professional skills through hands-on exercises, exhibit critiques, museum observations, and in-museum visits. Students learn to build effective design documents, and how exhibit team members contribute to the exhibit design and planning process.

MSTD A514: Museums and Technology (3 cr.) This course surveys the growing use of technology in museums.  It examines applications for information management in collections, conservation science, and archives.  It examines critically the use of technology in the service of education both in exhibit contexts and in the variety of educational programs and web-based dissemination of knowledge.

MSTD A516: Collections Care and Management (3 cr.) A survey of techniques for the management and care of collections in museums.  It covers documentation, management of collections, processes, administrative functions, risk management, and ethical and legal issues. The course also covers the physical care and conservation of collections.

MSTD A518: Museums and Audiences (3 cr.)  This course examines the ways museums seek to better understand their audiences, serve them more effectively, and strive to reach new audiences.  The course looks at a broad range of visitor studies and the ways in which museums and audiences interact.

MSTD A548: Museum Administration (3 cr.) This course presents a broad overview of issues and practices administrators who work in museums, historical societies, archives, special collection libraries, and other cultural resource agencies experience in their careers. In this course the term "administrator" applies to both the head of an organization as well as mid-level managers, and "leadership" is an opportunity for every museum professional regardless of their position. In addition to discussions that are unique to agencies that collect, preserve, and share cultural resources, the class will also look broadly at trends in management techniques and leadership that apply to any non-profit organization.

MSTD A595: Independent Learning in Museum Studies (1-6 cr.) A supervised, in-depth examination through individual reading and research on a particular Museum Studies topic selected and conducted by the student in consultation with a faculty member.  May be repeated for no more than 6 credit hours total.

Current Topics in Museum Studies Course Descriptions

MSTD A560: Current Topics: Museum Theatre and Interpretation Methods (3 cr.) The purpose of this course is to provide an in-depth look at the use of museum theatre and live interpretation in museum settings to advance the educational mission and nature of museums. The class examines theatrical techniques, program development and management, and interpretation approaches for a wide variety of museum exhibits, and audiences.  Students will observe, develop, and implement original museum theatre and interpretation projects as a synthesis and practical application of the knowledge gained.  The course will include field visits and observations of various techniques in museum theatre and live interpretation.

MSTD A560: Current Topics: Exhibit Design and Planning Studio:  Applied Learning with community client / partners (3 cr.) This class is an applied learning course based on a professional design studio model. Work completed in this course is experiential, client-based work with specific outcomes and deliverables. The course builds on the basic skills and applications learned in Exhibit Design and Planning 1, with an emphasis on refining and developing the storytelling and interpretive capacity of exhibition design and its relationship to visual and three-dimensional form, light and materials. Students will engage an exploration of three dimensional structure and form in relation to constructing meaning, as well as developing an understanding of a vocabulary of materials to add to the existing methods of exhibition design and planning engaged in the first level course.

MSTD A560: Current Topics: Museum Ethics (3 cr.) This course introduces current ethical concerns relevant to museums and the various audiences they serve. It focuses on the philosophical and practical dilemmas faced by exhibiting institutions in their efforts to formulate and fulfill their missions. It pays particular attention to the relationships between the governing bodies of these institutions and their staff, their intended audiences, and the source communities which they represent. The course also provides an historical framework tracing the development of these issues In order to contextualize the present situation.

MSTD A560: Current Topics: Issues in Native American Representation (3 cr.) From sports mascots, tourist "junk," and New Age paraphernalia to superb films and museum exhibits, the images of Indians presented to the public and Indians themselves become confusing and often are stereotypical. Through readings, videos, online materials, and hands-on projects using exhibits in the Eiteljorg Museum, the course will consider a wide range of issues including economics, ethics, authenticity, stereotyping, and sovereignty.  Because the subject matter cross-cuts the realm of Indigenous issues, the class and readings will necessarily touch upon similar issues in non-Native American Indigenous cultures.

MSTD A560: Current Topics: American Indians in Film (3 cr.) No medium has done more to create and confound images of American Indians than film. Ranging from simplistic, warlike savages to ennobled, ecological mystics, these images tend to mirror the complexities of the dominant society and are mostly created by them. What are the impacts of these images on both Indian people and the dominant society? How are the images created? What are the cultural contexts of the medium itself? These and a range of other subjects will be examined in the course.