Semester on Museums and Cultural Management

 

Museums and Cultural Management

Our newest nycTREC, the Semester on Museums and Cultural Management, is offered every spring semester in odd-numbered years.  Classes begin in mid-January, end in early May and are held on campus on Wednesdays and in New York City on Fridays.

Applications are due October 10.

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Travel

Venture into New York City, a museum and cultural capital that attracts thinkers, ethnographers, historians, and artists from around the world. Inside the city’s vast array of historic sites, cultural centers, and art institutions consider how museums both reflect and define who we are. Examine critical theoretical issues: the politics of display, public reception, and conflicting perspectives of multiple audiences. Travel every week to various New York metropolitan museums like the American Museum of Natural History, Climate Museum, Cooper Hewitt, El Museo Del Barrio, Guggenheim Museum, Jewish Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Chinese in America, Museum of the City of New York, National Museum of the American Indian, and more.

Rethink

The role of museums in our constantly changing society. Why were museums created? What function were they intended to serve and how has their role changed over time? As vital sites for the expression of individual, group, and national identities, what effect do museums have on contemporary society?

Explore

In regular conversations with industry professionals, examine the ways museums contribute to current conversations of race, gender, and diversity. Behind the exhibits and public displays, discover how museums are funded and managed. Develop criteria for evaluating museum exhibitions and other visitor displays. Round out the semester with a hands-on experience during a practicum at Drew’s own United Methodist Archives and History Center.

Connect

Careers in museums and cultural management draw students from disciplines such as Anthropology, Art,​ Art History, Business, Media and Communications, History, Philosophy, Sociology and the sciences.​ Completing this Launch-guided immersive experience will expose professional pathways that extend far​ beyond curating exhibits. The ability to connect the mission and values of museums to their exhibitions,​ programming and architecture is relevant to careers in fields such as curation, conservation, collections​ management, communications, education, etc.