I attended the Museum Studies M.A. program at The George Washington
University.  I'd be hard pressed to say whether the practical or
theoretical was stressed more.  An important (and invaluable) part of the
program was to take 6 credits of internships in a museum.  Also, most all
of the classes are taught by museum professionals with real life stories
to tell.  I felt that the program was especially strong in collections
management.  The Director of the program when I attended was Marie
Malaro who wrote A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections
which is one of the most widely used books in the field of collections
management.  Ms. Malaro has since retired, but the program structure is
still the same.  Also, all conservation classes were taught at the
Smithsonian Institution and were very "hands-on."  In summary, for
collections management, I would highly rate the program at GWU.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Laura McMann Mahoney
Grant/Contract Specialist
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
Office of Sponsored Projects
Voice: (202) 287-2170;  FAX: (202) 287-3707
E-mail:  [log in to unmask]


>>> Kimberly Jane Koons <[log in to unmask]> 04/01/98 01:30pm
>>>
Since the subject of museum studies programs has come up, I wonder if
list
members would be willing to offer opinions about what they feel are the
particular strengths of various programs, and/or the qualities which
distinguish one from another.  I, for instance, would be interested in
knowing which programs are especially strong (or not) at training future
Collections Managers.  It seems to me--though it can be difficult to
tell from public advertisements--that some programs are focusing
primarily on theoretical matters, while others stress the practical.

What are your thoughts?

Kim Koons, Lilly Library
Indiana University