Preparing a new generation: thoughts on contemporary museum studies training

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the development of museum studies training in the USA; offer an updated definition of what constitutes ‘a museum’; describe and discuss three conceptual domains that underlie and penetrate all museum work; and review the professional areas of museum work. I then propose a multi-tiered approach to museum studies training that, I argue, would effectively prepare the next generation of museum workers for leadership that will keep museums relevant to society.

Keywords:

• museology
• museum studies
• training
• museum definition

Notes on contributor

Welsh earned his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. His research has addressed a range of issues including the historical and legal background by which museums have come to control culturally sensitive objects; the public representation and interpretation of culture; and concerns over the sustainability of local history museums. He has worked in museums of all types and has taught museum studies courses since 1986. He is currently a Professor and Director of Museum Studies at the University of Kansas.

Notes

1. John Cotton Dana, 1920, A Plan for a New Museum. Woodstock, Vt.: The Elm Tree Press. 57pp, Quote is on page 9.

2. A quick perusal of references in my own library and in my EndNote bibliography resulted in over 100 monographs and anthologies, as well as over 250 journal articles published since 2001 directly relating to museum studies.

3. This article is focused primarily on museum studies programs in the USA for two reasons. First, that is the area with which I am most familiar, and reaching further afield would undoubtedly result in incompleteness or misinformation. Second, museum studies programs in the USA are widespread and, generally speaking, have more in common with one another in structure and history than they do with programs in other countries. In addition, the issues that I raise here are not meant to imply that other programs, whether in the USA or elsewhere, are not implementing some (or many) of the suggestions I make in this article. As much as anything, I hope that this piece will encourage more active discussion of the future of museum studies training.

4. A report recently prepared by the AAM claims that there are over 400,000 people working in museums in the USA. A closer look at the report from the perspective of professional museum training suggests that these raw numbers do not tell the whole story. Of those 400,000 workers, only 44,000 or 11% have postgraduate degrees – though it is not reported whether those degrees are an MA, MFA, or MBA (6662 of those have a PhD or other professional degree). Moreover, nearly half of the reported total is less than 35 years old (almost one quarter is reported as under 25 years old!); and around 20% are over 55. If we use these figures for some admittedly gross extrapolation, 11% of the workforce who might be retiring in the next decade would mean museums would have about 9500 openings for individuals with Masters degrees or higher if museums did not have to deal with cutbacks (AAM 2011). A cursory review of postings to MUSEUM-L in the years 2000, 2005, and 2011 produced 241 (2000), 256 (2005), and 204 (2011) hits in which the subject was a job announcement (at all levels, and not checking carefully for duplicate postings).

5. The most thorough recent listing is probably that compiled by Keni Sturgeon for COMPT (Sturgeon 2008). Marjorie Schwarzer notes that, worldwide, there are ‘more than 250 degree and certificate options’ (Schwarzer 2012, 24).

6. Sturgeon's guide compiled the results of a survey and provides useful data. More information can be gleaned from the program descriptions of the numerous established training programs in the USA and abroad (lists can be found at a number of websites, such as those maintained by the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies (museumstudies.si.edu/training.html) or www.globalmuseum.org, and a useful comparison was compiled by John Simmons (2006).

7. The ICOM-ICTOP Competencies are:

General competencies: Areas in which all museum staff should be able to demonstrate skills and knowledge. Museology Competencies: Knowledge of and skills in the application of the intellectual foundations of museum work. Management Competencies: Knowledge of and skills in the theory and practice of museum operations. Public Programming Competencies: Knowledge of and skills in serving the museum's communities. Information and Collections Management and Care Competencies: Knowledge of and skills in creating, preserving and sharing museum resources.

8. Williams and Hawks’ anthology also includes an article examining the costs of museum studies programs compared to the potential earnings of graduates. The authors conclude that ‘the salaries commanded by graduates of museum studies programs are significantly disproportionate to the financial burden assumed by these students while they are pursuing their education’ (Sheehan, Cunningham, and Emhart 2006, 191).

9. There have been other efforts at reformulating a definition of museums, most recently summarized by Dubuc (2011).

10. A small sampling of this literature includes: Knell, MacLeod, and Watson (2007), Witcomb and Cameron (2006); Isaac (2006); Preziosi and Farago (2004), Sandell (2002), Putnam (2001), Clifford (1988), and Price (1989).

11. This sort of overview course would lend itself well to online delivery and might even be appropriate to offer in the newly developing format of a Massive Open Online Course.

12. This is similar, in many ways, to what Lynne Teather (and others) have called ‘reflexive practice’ (Teather 1991). Both informed practice and reflective practice encourage practitioners to be mindful of the broader implications and applications of received knowledge but do not include an imperative to destabilize or disrupt accepted practice.

13. Since 2011, New York University has offered a ‘Certificate in Art Collection Management and Display’ which includes five courses offered on-site at the university: Introduction to Art and Artifact Collections, The Management and Registration of Art and Artifact Collections, Object Care and Display for Collections Managers, Exhibition Design, and Internship in Collections Management, Registration, and Display. Discussion on the AAM's LinkedIn Group (May 16–23, 2012) focused on the desire for the certificate to be available online.

14. Getty Leadership Institute (www.getty.edu/leadership/), Developing History Leaders @SHA (historyleadership.org), Center for Curatorial Leadership (www.curatorialleadership.org/index.html), and also the Campbell Center for Historic Preservation Studies (www.campbellcenter.org/index.html).