Museum Studies minor
Dr. Ellen Litwicki, Coordinator
Email: museum.studies@fredonia.edu
Website: http://home.fredonia.edu/interdisciplinary
The Museum Studies minor provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the field of museum work. The minor will prepare students for graduate work in museum studies and for professional careers in history, art, anthropological, or science/natural history museums.
A minor in Museum Studies will uniquely qualify Fredonia students for this ever-expanding discipline, which includes positions in historic preservation, conservation, graphic design, public relations, social media, grant writing, curatorship, and other fields. The minor is congruent with majors in various areas, including Art History, History, Visual Arts & New Media, Natural Sciences (Geosciences, Biology, Physics, Chemistry), American Studies, and Communication, among others. The minor in combination with an education major will help prepare students to enter the rapidly growing field of Museum Education. Moreover, the minor provides opportunities for service learning through internships and the capstone and provides benefits to understaffed local cultural institutions.
Required: 21 credit hours from the following. Students declaring a Museum Studies minor may use past courses retroactively after consultation with the coordinator.
Required courses (9 credit hours):
| INDS 202 | Introduction to Museum Studies | 3 |
| INDS 302 | Special Topics: Museum Studies | 3 |
| INDS 494 | Museum Studies Capstone | 3 |
| INDS 495 | Museum Studies Portfolio Completion | 0 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 9 |
Electives (12 credit hours):
to be chosen from History, Art History, Anthropology, Geosciences, Biology, Physics, Communication, American Studies, and other relevant disciplines, in consultation with the coordinator. No more than 6 of the 12 credit hours may be in one discipline, and at least 6 credit hours must be at the 300 level or above.
Optional/Recommended:
A museum internship or practicum for 1-3 credit hours. A 3-credit-hour internship may substitute for one of the elective courses. Possible internships include but are not limited to:
| ARTH 499 | Internship | 1-15 |
| HIST 490 | Public History Internship | 1-6 |
| ANTH 473 | Museum Internship | 3 |
| GEO 445 | Geosciences Internship | 1-15 |
| BIOL 450 | Modern Concepts in Biology | 1-4 |
| SCI 491 | Special Topics in Interdisciplinary Science | 1-6 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 1-3 |
Total Credit Hours: 21