Museum & Archival Studies

Overview

Who visits museums? How are collections and archives constructed? What social roles do museums and archives play? Students in this pathway will explore the diverse traditions of collection, curation, research, display, and preservation.

Students in the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway consider the histories, techniques, and challenges common to the diverse traditions of museums and collections, curation, and preservation practices. From small archives to large national collections, difficult dialogues surrounding justice and equity with respect to objects, collections, and accessibility are taking place at greater frequency. The Pathway seeks to promote and support a wide range of voices and to prioritize non-western contexts in decolonizing collections and institution. To this end, courses may also focus on specialized theoretical approaches to address histories of collection, teaching, and display, but also to confront issues of ownership, cultural patrimony, colonialism, and ethics.

Students who choose this pathway might expect to:

Build on critical understandings of the organization of arts, material culture, and science institutions
Explore controversial aspects of history, culture, and identity
Develop skills in information and collection management
Learn about conservation and preservation techniques

Careers associated with this pathway include an extraordinary array of disciplinary perspectives in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. They include, but are not limited to:

Archival Science & Ethics, Documentary & Digital Preservation
Library Science & Education
Museum Studies & Curation (including Natural History [from botany to biology and paleontology to zoology])
Public History
Specialized Collections
Digital Collections & Display
Fine Arts
Museum Education
Museum & Gallery Management
Corporate Collections Management
Art Acquisition and Dealership
Collection/Display Design & Ethics
Cultural Patrimony & the Law
Preservation & Conservation
Archaeological Analyses
Archaeological Ethics

Faculty & Staff

Tracy Cosgriff

Assistant Professor, Art and Art History, Middle Eastern & North African Studies

tcosgriff@wooster.edu

Beth Derderian

Assistant Professor of Anthropology; Museum Studies (On leave for Fall 2023)

bderderian@wooster.edu

Claire Eager

Assistant Professor of English

ceager@wooster.edu

Mark Graham

Associate Professor of Religious Studies; South Asian Studies; East Asian Studies; Co-Liaison to the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway

mgraham@wooster.edu

Madonna Hettinger

Lawrence Stanley Chair and Professor of Medieval History; Pre-Law Program (On leave for Spring 2024)

mhettinger@wooster.edu

Denise Monbarren

Special Collections Librarian, Libraries

dmonbarren@wooster.edu

Kara Morrow

Associate Professor, Art and Art History; Chair of Museum Studies; South Asian Studies

kmorrow@wooster.edu

Olivia Navarro-Farr

Associate Professor of Archaeology; Sociology and Anthropology; Program Chair for Archaeology

onavarro-farr@wooster.edu

Marianne Wardle

Director and Curator of College of Wooster Art Museum; Co-Liaison to the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway; Adjunct Associate Professor of Museum Studies

mwardle@wooster.edu

Becky Webb

Pathways Program Coordinator, Global Engagement Office Administrative Coordinator

rwebb@wooster.edu

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Requirements

Experiential Learning Opportunities (One Experience)

Students will complete one experience that meets the following description: Substantial/sustained off-campus internship, work experience, or volunteer opportunity, in the area of student’s interests and goals, which will include a formal reflection on quality and quality of engagement. Approved experiential learning opportunities should give students firsthand, guided experience working with digital, physical, written, or visual materials. Such opportunities include:

Work/work study experience on campus
Special Collections
Digital Collections
Ebert’s Digital Lab in CWAM
Wooster Digital History Project
Work experience off-campus
Internships off-campus
Internships on-campus
Research Assistantships
Field Research
Volunteer work such as docent and museum education or outreach
Shadowing Experiences with Alumni
Related Off-Campus Study programs

Reflection

Reflective exercises at the beginning, middle and end of the pathway

Reflections guide students to articulate meaningful connections between the skills and knowledge they are gaining and the experiences in their coursework, experiential learning opportunities and career goals.

Reflections take place along five points in the pathway:

First Reflection Touchpoint: At the Start of the Pathway
- The first opportunity to reflect is when the student declares their Pathway. Responses to prompts asked at this moment establish a baseline from which student moves forward.
Second Reflection Touchpoint: An Opportunity to Investigate
- At this point in the process, students will explore career and internship resources offered through Career Planning in APEX. They will also craft a career-ready resume.
Third Reflection Touchpoint: Before Experiential Learning Opportunity
- This reflection offers students the opportunity to connect with professionals who will guide them as they plan their experiential learning for maximum growth and impact.
Fourth Reflection Touchpoint: After Experiential Learning Opportunity
- This reflection takes place after the student has completed an experiential learning opportunity and asks them to consider how the work they have done connects with their pathway.
Fifth Reflection Touchpoint: At the End of This Pathway – and the Start of New Ones
- At this touchpoint, students engage with questions that help them build connections between theory and practice, their career goals, and how they plan to extend their Pathway beyond Wooster.

Coursework (Three Courses)

Students will complete three courses from different departments within the following interest categories. Students are welcome to pursue various courses from multiple Interest Categories, provided that these decisions are made in consultation with a Pathway advisor, and that the student articulates the reasons for these selections in a written reflection in the form of a proposal and rationale as addressed above.

Anthropological Museums

Approved coursework in this interest area provides students with guided opportunities to understand how human cultures, histories, communities, and identities are (and are not) represented in museums. Students completing coursework in this area may also identify legal and ethical issues in ethnographic collections and displays.

ANTH-11000: Introduction to Anthropology
ANTH-21107: Museum Anthropology
IDPT-29900: Museums & Political Conflict
RELS-26925: Religious Visual & Material Culture
RELS-26740: Buddhist Visual & Material Cultures
RELS-26745: Materiality and Spirit