Master of Arts in Museum and Exhibition Studies
Application deadline: March 15, 2012
University of Illinois at Chicago
Museum and Exhibition Studies
Department of Art History
College of Architecture and the Arts
Chicago, IL 60607
www.uic.edu/depts/arch/ah/museumstudies.shtml
The Art History Department of the University of Illinois at Chicago offers a Master of Arts in Museum and Exhibition Studies. We welcome applicants seeking a rigorous course of study integrating professional practice and scholarly research in an array of museum disciplines. Applications are accepted online through March 15, 2012.
Broadly interdisciplinary, the Program in Museum and Exhibition Studies at UIC integrates professional training and experience with the intensive study of the institutions and practices of exhibition-making and public engagement at museums of art, history, architecture, science, anthropology, and contemporary culture, among others. The program emphasizes the evolving social and cultural contexts of today’s arts institutions.
The academic curriculum in Museum and Exhibition Studies at UIC provides students with deep intellectual and scholarly training essential to professional careers in diverse positions: directors of institutions, curators, gallery directors, museum educators, exhibition developers, and professionals within the rapidly emerging spheres of digital information-sharing, for example.
Housed in UIC’s graduate program in Art History, Museum and Exhibition Studies draws on the broad range of disciplines available at UIC, including anthropology, ethnic and gender studies, history, social work, and more. Close mentoring relationships with advisors and advisory faculty provide students with specialized training tailored to their needs and capabilities, while the diverse range of faculty scholarship within and beyond the department provides the breadth only available at a major research university.
Full-time resident students are required to take five core courses, a supervised internship, fulfill six rotations at the program’s two anchor institutions at UIC (Gallery 400 and the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum), and successfully complete a final capstone activity (a project, thesis, or two qualifying papers) within a two-year duration. Core courses focus on museum genres, practices, and history; collections; exhibition making; writing for exhibitions; and audiences and public engagement.
Faculty in the program come from the UIC Art History department (among them Hannah Higgins, Peter Hales, Martha Pollak, Lisa Lee, and Lorelei Stewart) as well as professionals from Chicago’s world class museums.
In the program’s first year, guest lecturers have included Ethan Lasser (Chipstone Foundation, Milwaukee Art Museum), Sarah Pharaon (International Coalition of Sites of Conscience), John Ronan (John Ronan Architects), Rhoda Rosen (Northwestern University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago), Stephanie Smith (The Smart Museum at the University of Chicago), Lisa Stone (Roger Brown Study Collection), Nato Thompson (Creative Time, NY), and Hamza Walker (The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago). Students have visited the Art Institute of Chicago, Milwaukee Art Museum, The Renaissance Society, Roger Brown Study Collection, and the collections of some of Chicago’s most prominent collectors.
For information on the program, faculty, and application requirements please visit: www.uic.edu/depts/arch/ah/museumstudies.shtml
For additional questions, contact Lorelei Stewart, Interim Program Director, [email protected].
Applications accepted online through: www.uic.edu/depts/oar/grad/apply_grad.html
