Art & Museum Studies M.A. Program
Georgetown University’s
M.A. degree program in Art and Museum Studies brings academic
study of art museums together with museum practice, and
emphasizes the international contexts of museums in the
modern world. Through courses, individual research, and
internships, students work closely with Georgetown art history
faculty, curators, and other museum professionals in Washington
DC, and with faculty specialists at Sotheby's Institute
of Art in London.
The twelve-month course of study combines courses in museology
and art history with internship opportunities at some of
Washington’s premier art institutions. We examine
the changing relationships between academic study of art
and new configurations of museum display and interpretation.
Most courses emphasize both theory and practice, including
such topics as the roles of museums in modern cultures,
museum education, collection management, museum architecture,
curatorial work and the ethics of acquisition and display.
Our students may expect to take part in critical debates
about art exhibition and interpretation.
During the fall semester, students will take a combination
of core and elective courses at Georgetown and participate
in an internship at an area museum. For the spring semester,
students will matriculate at Sotheby’s Institute of Art
in London where they will take an intensive course in Asian
art, decorative arts, or art business. Some students who
wish to study contemporary art may be approved to enroll
at Sotheby’s Intitute of Art, New York. The Institute’s
course work emphasizes connoisseurship and hands-on study
of art works, and incorporates study trips to major public
and private collections. In the summer term, students will
complete a full-time internship in a museum in Washington
or another city; the term culminates in a capstone workshop
held in late August in Washington..
Requirements
- 30 course credits, taken during
a 12-month period; we do not currently provide for part-time
enrollment.
- Fall
semester – at Georgetown: one required core course,
two electives (combination of art history and museum specializations),
and an internship.
- Spring semester – at Sotheby’s
Institute of Art, London: one intensive course in a selected
area of concentration.
- Summer term: one museum internship
combined with a capstone workshop.
- Thesis Track: students may
elect an additional six credits to write a thesis. This
option requires consultation and approval from the Program
Director and a sponsoring Georgetown faculty member before
the end of the spring semester.
Courses and Areas of Study The
Art and Museum Studies Program curriculum emphasizes the
intersections of art history and museum practice. The core
course and electives are designed to stimulate discussion
and to provide first-hand experience of museum specializations.
Students may emphasize academic study of art and museums
or an area of professional museum work such as education,
conservation, or marketing, but all members of the program
will have some experience in both kinds of study. The sample
courses listed here are for general information. Please
see updated online course listings at:
http://explore.georgetown.edu/courses/.
* Museum Studies Foundations (Prof. Hilton. Core course;
introduces discipline of museum studies; principles of museum
organization and practice; the public faces of museums;
collection care and management, administration and innovation.)
*Washington Art Collections (Prof. Prelinger. Art history
seminar; through readings and field trips, examines the
nature of museums and private collections in Washington,
DC.)
*Twentieth-century American Prints (Prof. Prelinger. Art
history seminar based on Georgetown’s Special Collections.)
*Ideas of Realism (Prof. Acres. Art history seminar; combines
broad theoretical study with close analysis of paintings.)
* Museum Practice (Prof. Kirsh. Museum
studies elective; examines the many behind-the-scenes aspects
of collections care, marketing, external relations, and
fund-raising, and emphasizes the collaborative nature of
museum work.)
* Museum Education and Interpretation (Prof. McNamee. Museum
studies elective; professional and philosophical issues
seen in collaboration with museum education specialists
in several Washington museums.
*Cultural Hybridity: Mixing media, Music, and Art (Prof.
Irvine. Communication, Culture and Technology Program seminar;
includes museums and global culture)
*Looking at Photography (Prof. Schaefer, CCTP seminar; looks
at photography as art and as a ubiquitous element of modern
culture)
* Art Business (Prof. Bellingham, Sotheby’s. Business
theory and practice, coupled with intensive study of art-related
issues; art market, ethics and conservation of objects,
art valuation, website design)
* Foundation in Asian Art (Prof. Farrar, Sotheby’s.
Lectures and object handling sessions explore materials,
techniques, and styles of Asian arts, with visits to specialized
collections in Britain and Europe.)
* Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Decorative Arts (Prof.
Darby, Sotheby's. The stylistic developments in design and
decorative arts from historicism to postmodernism, emphasizing
firsthand study at London's museums, private collections,
Sotheby's auction house, and in Paris.)
*Contemporary Design (Prof. Darby,
Sotheby’s. Combines object-based study of design,
decorative art and craft from the art nouveau period to
the present day, with market analysis and an exploration
of the professional design world.)
Faculty
Program Director:
Alison Hilton, Professor of Art History.
Participating Faculty:
Elizabeth Prelinger, Professor
of Art History. Alfred Acres, Assistant Professor of Art
History. Harriet McNamee, Director of Education, Emerita,
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Andrea Kirsh, conservator,
curator, Anne Farrer, Asian Art, Sotheby’s Institute,
Elisabeth Darby, Fine and Decorative Arts, Sotheby’s
Institute. David Bellingham, Art Business, Sotheby’s.
-- and other museum professionals
Admissions
Application deadline for fall 2008:
January 10, 2008
Information sessions for prospective
applicants will be scheduled by the Graduate School. Please
see the complete admissions information, and find links
to financial aid and other helpful materials in the Graduate
School web site:
http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/admissions.cfm
For additional information on Georgetown’s Masters in Art and Museum Studies, including application materials, select “Art and Museum Studies” from the list of Graduate Degree Programs available online at:
http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/graduate_programs.cfm
Contact for more information: gradamus@georgetown.edu
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