Museum Studies Graduate Minor

About the minor

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The Museum Studies graduate minor explores the history, philosophy, operations, and functions of museums—broadly defined to include art, science, history, specialized museums, and others.

 

Please note, the Museum Studies Graduate Minor and all courses required for the minor will be paused through the 2022 and 2023 academic years. Students will not be able to declare this minor during this time.

 

Admissions & Requirements

Admission to the museum studies graduate minor is contingent upon prior admission to a graduate degree-granting program within the Graduate School. High academic standing with a minimum 3.00 cumulative University of Minnesota GPA is preferred.No more than 15 students will be admitted to this minor each year.

  • Masters students are required to take 7 credits to fulfill the minor.
  • Doctoral students are required to take 12 credits to fulfill the minor.
  • All students are required to complete a pre-approved internship.
  • Courses taken in fulfillment of the major field may not be used to fulfill minor requirements. Other courses may be substituted with the approval.

Students are held to the course requirements in place at the time of their admission. As requirements may change in the future, students should refer to their minor GPAS for the requirements applicable to them.

Questions?

If you have questions about applying for this minor or if you have already been admitted to the minor and have advising questions, please email [email protected].

Required Internship

The internship requirement is integral to the Museum Studies minor. We recommend that all graduate students admitted to this minor plan ahead for their internship using the checklist and resources.

Download the Internship Agreement

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Internship Checklist

  1. Meet with the museum studies director prior to the semester in which you wish to complete the internship to discuss your internship goals and ideas.
  2. Meet with the potential internship site supervisor to discuss the possibility of an internship.
  3. Arrange the details of the internship with the site supervisor and draft the Internship Agreement. Include learning goals, responsibilities, projects, dates, and hours. Have the site supervisor sign it. 
  4. Have the agreement approved and signed by the museum studies director.
  5. Register for MST 5020 for 1–4 credits.  Each credit requires 45 hours of internship work.
  6. At the end of the semester, email two reports to the museum studies director. These two evaluations must reach the museum studies director before a grade will be assigned for the course:
    • Send five or six double-spaced pages stating in detail what you did during your internship and how well the experience met your expectations and perceived needs. 
    • Forward your site supervisor’s one-page summary of the internship duties and performance including an estimate of the time completed.

Internship Resources

Internship websites

University of Minnesota museums and galleries

Museum professional organizations

 

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