Museums and Collections

The Museums and Collections specialisation gives students a working knowledge of and critical engagement with a wide range of museums, cultural and collecting institutions. Most coursework content draws from case studies arising from national cultural and collecting institutions in Canberra (including National Museum of Australia, Australian War Memorial, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, and National Library of Australia), and representatives from these institutions, including their directors, regularly contribute classes. Professional links ensure that students have ready access to major national collections and exhibition venues. These links also mean that the program can complement academic excellence with a strong professional emphasis to ensure that it remains at the forefront of current research and issues confronting museums, galleries, and other cultural and collecting institutions.

Programs available

• Graduate Certificate in Liberal Arts (Museums and Collections)
• Graduate Diploma in Liberal Arts (Museums and Collections)
• Master of Liberal Arts (Museums and Collections)
• Master of Liberal Arts (Museums and Collections) (Honours)

Who Studies Museums and Collections?

• Recent Australian and international graduates wishing to gain a professional degree in order to enter the professional museums, collections, or heritage sectors.
• Individuals already working in the cultural, collections, or heritage sectors in Canberra who may use the program as professional development for career enhancement.
• individuals who may be volunteer staff at cultural or collecting institutions or heritage sites, or members of ‘Friends' organizations at any of the cultural, collecting or heritage places or members of Historical Societies etc who want to now gain a professional qualification.
• Individuals already working in the cultural, collections, or heritage sectors or public service who wish to extend their understanding of museum practice, and who seek to contextualise it through academic research.

Why ANU?

Museums and Collections is unique for its focus on – and access to – a wide range of national exhibition and collection institutions, and for being jointly sponsored by the Narional Museum of Australia and the ANU. Designed in close consultation with the NMA, it offers students the skills required for a workplace such as that of a national institution. Senior staff from various parts of the museum contribute to the program, and many students enrol in intensive internships at the museum to gain close relationships with the institution and staff. 

The specialisation also has strong ties with other national institutions including the National Gallery, the National Library, the National Archives, the Australian War Memorial, and the National Portrait Gallery. We explore processes central to the production and analysis of social history, anthropology, art, and other types of museums, cultural centres and their collections, and focus in particular on management issues. These links ensure that the program has ready access to major national collections, that it complements academic excellence with a strong professional emphasis, and remains at the forefront of current research and issues confronting galleries and museums.

National Museum of Australia Scholarship

Congratulations to Laura Parker for being awarded the NMA Scholarship for studies beginning in 2009. Previous awardees include: Eric Archer, Rowan Henderson, Karina West, Kylie Moloney, Leise Knowles, Sonja Balaga, Pip McNaught, Keren Ruki, and Jane Steinhaeuser.

Each year the National Museum of Australia provides funding for students enrolled in the Museums and Collections specialisation. Scholarships are available to full time or part time students, and cover the cost of course fees for the year in which the scholarship is awarded.

Indigenous Australians are particularly encouraged to apply.

2009 Applications
Scholarship application form (pdf)
Terms and conditions of award Pdf)

Internships and Professional Programs

Museums and Collections students have the opportunity to learn on the job. Students may undertake up to 12 units of internship, which counts towards their degree and offers an excellent way to gain work experience. Internship courses are offered year-round, in semesters 1 and 2, and summer and winter sessions. The two courses may be taken over two semesters, or more intensively in one or two teaching periods. Students enrolled in the Master of Liberal Arts (Honours) (Museums and Collections) also have the opportunity to undertake a more substantial professional development placement that counts toward their final assessment.

Career opportunities

Courses in Museums and Collections have a strong career orientation, opening many possible doors. The specialization offers sound training for employment in museums, galleries and other cultural institutions. With a strong emphasis on critical analysis, research, problem solving and communicating with audiences in diverse ways, the courses also provide valuable training for future managers in the arts, heritage and collections sectors and more broadly across the public service and private enterprise.

Courses

• MUSC8007: Museums and Collections: Key Concepts and Practices

• MUSC8004: Internship 1
• MUSC8005: Internship 2
• HUMN8001: Interdisciplinary Humanities Research: Methods, Theories and Skills
• HUMN8009: Biography and society
• HUMN8010: Material Culture Studies 
• MUSC8006: Indigenous collections and exhibitions
• MUSC8003: Museum, collection, and heritage management
• MUSC8008: Museums, Art and Society in the Asia-Pacific
• MUSC8009: Museums and Collections research project
• MUSC8011: Museums and Collections Extended Research Project
• MUSC8010: Exhibition innovations summer workshop
• HUMN8020: Masterclasses in cultural heritage and collections

Entry Requirements

Program Requirements

Other Specialisations
Courses from each of the other specialisations may be taken as part of the degrees specialising in Museums and Collections.  For more information about the courses available in each field follows the links to Cultural and Environmental Heritage, Visual Culture Research and Writing, World Histories and Lives.

For more information
Contact the Museums and Collections specialisation convenor:
Dr Kylie Message
E: kylie.message@anu.edu.au

How to apply
Applicants should apply directly to the University for entry into this program. Online applications can be completed at ANU Apply Online  

Further details on graduate study at ANU are available at Graduate Study at ANU