As a recent graduate of the University of Delaware's American History and Museum Studies certification program, (and speaking to other students who are pursuing their degrees in Museum Studies) a certificate in museum studies is usually pursed in conjunction with a degree in something else (e.g. history, art or English). Here at U of DE, museum studies certificate candidates are required to perform an internship, take a core course in the "Leadership and Management of Museums," and then choose from at least two other courses that focus on topics such as collections management, grant writing, historic preservation, or museums and modern technology (to name a few). Jennifer Horner Newark, DE ----- Original Message ----- From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 11:46 AM Subject: Re: Certificate vs. Degree > SOme places' certificate programs are targetted more toward technical > museum experience, ans provide a broad overview of the field of > museology, whereas a Masters degree may have a more academic research > specialty required as well (which as why they take longer). From programs > I know of, you would want to go for Masters of higher is you were > interested in curatorial work, where a certificate in many cases is more > suitable for collections management or administration. I suspect that is > changing as the field coninues to professionalize and organize itself. > > I guess the definition is rather murky and you need to look at each > program individually to know just what their "angle" is. > > Juliette Rogers > Stephen Phillips Trust House > Salem MA > > > On Wed, 11 Jul 2001, Julie Clark wrote: > > > Good Morning- > > > > I've seen many posts to the list that mention a "certificate" in Museum Studies. I had never heard of this before. Can anyone please explain the difference between a certificate and a degree such as a MA? I'm guessing that the former takes less time to acquire. Do many universities offer a certificate now? Also, do the employers out there have an opinion on the issue when it comes to interviewing and hiring a potential new employee? > > > > Thank you- > > > > Julie Clark > > Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center > > > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).