Master's Degree
The M.A. in Museum Studies is offered by Marist College and the Lorenzo de' Medici Institute at the Marist-LdM Florence Branch Campus in Italy. This degree program has been designed to meet the academic needs of qualified students from around the world.
The M.A. in Museum Studies is an interdisciplinary advanced degree program which aims to provide students with an understanding of how museums operate within their social and cultural contexts. Drawing on faculty from the U.S., U.K. and continental Europe, courses are taught using a variety of innovative methods, yet they share two fundamental core principles which are embedded in the program’s philosophy: 1) museums’ engagement with the public is paramount and 2) museums vary greatly across the globe and therefore must be studied from an international comparative perspective.
Located in Florence, Italy, one of the world’s most important museum centers, the program offers unparalleled learning and internship opportunities. Guest lectures by museum professionals expose students to a wide variety of international perspectives, widening their horizons while visits to museums, historical monuments, archives, libraries, and relevant non-profit institutions essentially use Florence as a classroom, integrating students within the city and offering them hands-on exposure to real world museum research and practices. Both the lectures and the visits facilitate the important transition from student to museum professional at the termination of the degree program.
The program, which will be taught in collaboration with the University of Florence and the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, additionally seeks to position itself as a much-needed forum for reflection and debate on museological issues in the city.
MUSEUM STUDIES CURRICULUM
The Museum Studies curriculum is designed to give students a strong knowledge base of the professional field of museology. This advanced degree will position graduates for successful careers in the museum industry. To accomplish this, the academic year consists of three terms totaling 34 credits: Fall (13 credits), Spring (13 credits), and Summer (8 credits).
PROGRAM CURRICULUM
ART 501L: Museums and the Public I: People and Ideas
ART 502L: Museums, Galleries, and the History of Collecting
ART 503L: Museum Development, Management, and Leadership
ART 504L: Art and Objects in Museums and in Context
ART 507L: Research Methods I: Methodology and Resources
ART 601L: Museums and the Public II: Objects and Audience
ART 607L: Research Methods II: Thesis Proposal
ART 620L: Internship
ART 625L: Thesis
Pick Three From (course offerings vary by semester):
ART 602L: Transcultural Aesthetics, Ethnography, and Cultural Bias
ART 603L: Museum Spaces and Technologies
ART 604L: Museum Education
ART 605L: Conservation and Historic Preservation
ART 606L: Museum Ethics and the Law
Potential Internship Locations:
Fondazione di Palazzo Strozzi
Galleria dell Arte Moderna, Palazzo Pitti
Giardino di Boboli, Palazzo Pitti
Museo dell Opera del Duomo di Firenze
Museo di Palazzo Vecchio
Museo della Storia della Scienza
