Fall 2012 Semester Course Schedule

To register for Museum Studies courses, please contact Program in Museum Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Science, at 212.998.8080 or by email at museum.studies@nyu.edu
(Course offering, time, and location are subject to change - updated August 20, 2012.)

MSMS-GA 1500  Section: 001 | Class#: 1935 | 4 credits
HISTORY AND THEORY OF MUSEUMS
Tuesday, 6:20-9:20 p.m.
194 Mercer Street, Room 210
Hima B. Mallampati

MSMS-GA 1500  Section: 002 | Class#: 1936 | 4 credits
HISTORY AND THEORY OF MUSEUMS
Wednesday, 1:50-4:45 p.m.
GCASL, 238 Thompson Street, Room 388
Hima B. Mallampati

MSMS-GA 1501  Section: 001 | Class#: 1937 | 4 credits
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS
Thursday, 6:20-9:20 p.m.
194 Mercer Street, Room 210
Josephine Gear

MSMS-GA 1501  Section: 002 | Class#: 1938 | 4 credits
MUSEUM COLLECTIONS AND EXHIBITIONS
Friday, 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
194 Mercer Street, Room 210
Josephine Gear

MSMS-GA 2221  Section: 001 | Class#: 1939 | 4 credits
DEVELOPMENT, FUND-RAISING AND GRANTSMANSHIP
Monday, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
240 Greene Street, Room 410
Bruce Lineker

MSMS-GA 2222  Section: 001 | Class#: 1940 | 4 credits
MUSEUM CONSERVATION AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE
Friday, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
240 Greene Street, Room 410
Glenn Wharton

MSMS-GA 2224  Section: 001 | Class#: 1941 | 4 credits
(Cross-listed in Draper Program under DRAP-GA 2224.001)
MUSEUM EDUCATION
Thursday, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
240 Greene Street, Room 410
William B. Crow

MSMS-GA 2225  Section: 001 | Class#: 1942| 4 credits
(Cross-listed in Draper Program under DRAP-GA 2225.001)
MUSEUMS AND INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Monday, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
240 Greene Street, Room 410
Rosanna Flouty

MSMS-GA 3330  Section: 001 | Class#: 1943 | 4 credits
(Cross-listed in Draper Program under DRAP-GA 3330.001)
TOPICS IN MUSEUM STUDIES: CREATING A MEMORIAL MUSEUM
Wednesday, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
240 Greene Street, Room 410
Amy S. Weisser

MSMS-GA 3330  Section: 002 | Class#: 1944 | 4 credits
(Cross-listed in History Department under HIST-GA 3330.001 and in CLACS under LATC-GA 2030.002)
TOPICS IN MUSEUM STUDIES: GUANTANAMO PUBLIC MEMORY PROJECT AT NYU
Tuesday, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
240 Greene Street, Room 410
Liz Sevcenko

MSMS-GA 3335  Section: 001 | Class#: 1945 | 4 credits
(Cross-listed in Draper Program under DRAP-GA 3335.001)
MUSEUMS AND CONTEMPORARY ART
Thursday, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
240 Greene Street, Room 410
Bruce J. Altshuler

MSMS-GA 3915  Section: 001 | Class#: 1946 | 1-4 credits
RESEARCH IN MUSEUM STUDIES
Independent Study -- to be arranged individually
Bruce J. Altshuler

MSMS-GA 3990  Section: 001 | Class#: 1947 | 2 credits
INTERNSHIP
To be arranged individually with Museum Studies Internship Coordinator
Hima B. Mallampati

MSMS-GA 3991  Section: 001 | Class#: 1948 | 2 credits
RESEARCH SEMINAR
Tuesday, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
194 Mercer Street, Room 308
Miriam Basilio

MSMS-GA 3991  Section: 002 | Class#: 1949 | 2 credits
RESEARCH SEMINAR
Tuesday, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, LL141
Erin Hasinoff

Cross-listed courses:

MSMS-GA 1010  Section:  001  | Class#: 19093 | 4 credits
(Same as HIST-GA 1010.001. Sponsor: Department of History)
INTRODUCTION TO ARCHIVES
Monday, 4:55-7:35 p.m.
KJCC, 53 Washington Square South, Room 701
Peter Wosh

MSMS-GA 1750  Section: 001  |  Class#: 2618 | 4 credits
(Same as HIST-GA 1750.001. Sponsor: Department of History)
INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HISTORY
Wednesday, 4:55-7:35 p.m.
KJCC, 53 Washington Square South, Room 701
Peter Wosh


MSMS-GA 1500
Sections: 1 and 2
History and Theory of Museums

Required Course. 4 points.
Introduction to the social, cultural, and political history of museums. This course focuses on the formation of the modern museum with an emphasis on the US context. Museums of Natural History, Anthropology, Science, Technology, History, and Art will be addressed from a variety of disciplinary approaches that explore the institution and its practices with respect to governance, colonialism, nationalism, class, gender, ethnicity, and community. Weekly visits to New York museums are required, along with frequent reading response papers, an exhibition review, and a final paper.
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MSMS-GA 1500
Sections: 1 and 2
History and Theory of Museums

Required Course. 4 points.
Introduction to the social, cultural, and political history of museums. This course focuses on the formation of the modern museum with an emphasis on the US context. Museums of Natural History, Anthropology, Science, Technology, History, and Art will be addressed from a variety of disciplinary approaches that explore the institution and its practices with respect to governance, colonialism, nationalism, class, gender, ethnicity, and community. Weekly visits to New York museums are required, along with frequent reading response papers, an exhibition review, and a final paper.
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MSMS-GA 1501
Sections: 1 and 2
Museum Collections and Exhibitions.

Required Course. 4 points.
This course introduces students to the care and management of objects and collections, and to the process of organizing a temporary exhibition. Assignments consist of individual reports and working in small teams to prepare and present proposals on specific functions of collection management, and to make an exhibition proposal. Museum professionals (Registrars, Conservators, Curators) will speak on issues specific to their practice. Museum visits are scheduled as part of regular classroom meetings. As far as possible the course covers museums of all disciplines.
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MSMS-GA 1501
Sections: 1 and 2
Museum Collections and Exhibitions.

Required Course. 4 points.
This course introduces students to the care and management of objects and collections, and to the process of organizing a temporary exhibition. Assignments consist of individual reports and working in small teams to prepare and present proposals on specific functions of collection management, and to make an exhibition proposal. Museum professionals (Registrars, Conservators, Curators) will speak on issues specific to their practice. Museum visits are scheduled as part of regular classroom meetings. As far as possible the course covers museums of all disciplines.
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MSMS-GA 2221
Development, Fund-Raising, and Grantsmanship

Elective. 4 points.
Overview of organizational development principles as they relate to the fundraising and grantsmanship process. Topics cover sources of funding, board relations, prospect research, capital campaigns, and planned giving. Includes a practicum in grant writing and formulating a comprehensive fundraising strategy plan for a museum.
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MSMS-GA 2222
Museum Conservation and Contemporary Culture

Elective. 4 points.
As an introduction to museum conservation, this seminar combines classroom discussion with museum laboratory visits to provide an understanding of how conservation functions in the context of contemporary culture. The seminar is divided into three broad topics: museum collections care, the history and philosophy of western conservation, and the conservation of modern and contemporary art. It provides technical information about how artifacts age in the museum environment while examining conflicts that arise between professional and non-professional stakeholders. The seminar addresses concerns of living artists as well as indigenous groups and others with claims to the disposition and care of cultural materials. While enrollment is open to all NYU graduate students, priority will be given to Museum Studies students with research interests in exhibition and collections management.
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MSMS-GA 2224
Museum Education

Elective. 4 points.
This seminar provides an overview of the field of Museum Education. Museum Education is considered in the context of the institution's relationship with constituent communities, with application to a broad range of audiences. Among the topics to be considered are teaching from objects, learning strategies, working with docents and volunteers, program planning, and the educational use of interactive technologies.
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MSMS-GA 2225
Museums and Interactive Technologies

Elective. 4 points.
This course will present a survey and analysis of museum use of interactive technologies. Among the topics to be discussed in detail are strategies and tools for collections management, exhibitions, educational resources and programs, website design, digitization projects, and legal issues arising from the use of these technologies. Each student will develop an interactive project in an area of special interest.
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MSMS-GA 3330
Section: 1
Topics in Museum Studies: Creating a Memorial Museum

Elective. 4 points.
This course examines the creation of a new museum, with a specific focus on the development of the future National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center. The course looks at the processes of building a new institution, and considers how a museum's site, architecture, exhibitions, collections, programming, and audience shape and reflect its mission. Readings and discussions focus on the theoretical underpinnings of memorializing and history making, comparative museums and exhibitions, and 9/11 chronicles and resources. Students will develop weekly writing assignments, which will often take the form of a position paper, and will produce a final creative research paper of project. This project will combine a student-initiated proposal for an exhibition topic or component with archival research.
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MSMS-GA 3330
Section: 2
Topics in Museum Studies: Guantanamo Public Memory Project at NYU

Elective. 4 points.
This course offers a unique opportunity to develop a traveling exhibit, digital projects, and public engagement programs on the history and contemporary implications of Guantánamo.  Students will collaborate with 11 universities around the country to develop the Guantánamo Public Memory Project’s National Dialogue and Traveling Exhibit, opening December 13 in the Kimmel Windows Galleries and traveling to 9 other cities across the country over the next two years. Launched by the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, the Project seeks to build public awareness of the history of the US Naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba since 1898 and foster dialogue on the future of this place, it people, and its policies.  Since 2001, “Guantánamo” has been an international symbol of America’s “War on Terror,” a lightning rod for deeply divisive debates around torture, detention, national security, and human rights.  But GTMO has been an integral part of American politics and policy for more than a century, a keystone of American empire used by Democratic and Republican administrations alike to contain a host of perceived unprecedented threats outside the reach of US laws -- from suspected Cuban spies in the Cold War to Haitian refugees with HIV in the 1990s.  What some scholars call a “legal black hole” is nevertheless firmly rooted in the geography and politics of the Caribbean.  Students will explore GTMO’s storied past and the challenges of opening dialogue on contested histories in divided societies, through methodologies and case studies from Sites of Conscience around the world.  Together with students across the country, they will develop content for the website and traveling exhibit, with opportunities for virtual discussions.  In particular, NYU students will create the mechanisms for public engagement that will accompany the exhibit as it travels, designing tours and curating media “catalysts” for dialogue that juxtapose material from the Project’s archive with discussion questions in the urgent questions GTMO’s history raises.
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MSMS-GA 3335
Museums and Contemporary Art

Elective. 4 points.
This course investigates historical, theoretical, and practical aspects of the collecting and exhibiting of contemporary art in museums. Topics include curatorial strategies for exhibition and collection development, biennialism, the art market, conservation issues, artworks that take the museum as subject, public and relational art, and conflicts of interest that arise for museum staff and trustees. A familiarity with international contemporary art is required. Assignments include two short essays, class presentations, and a final paper.
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MSMS-GA 3915
Research in Museum Studies

Elective. 1-4 points.
Independent research on a topic determined in consultation with the program director.
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MSMS-GA 3990
Internship

Required Course. 2 points.
(Open to the Museum Studies students only)
M.A. and Advanced Certificate students spend a minimum of 300 hours over one or more semesters in a project-oriented internship at a museum or other suitable institution. Students nearing completion of course prerequisites (G49.1500, G49.1501, and G49.1502) must schedule a planning meeting with the Program's Internship Coordinator. A daily log, evaluations, and progress report are required. Students must earn a grade of B or better to receive the M.A. or Advanced Certificate. Further information is available in the Internship Guidelines Packet.
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MSMS-GA 3991
Section: 1 and 2
Research Seminar

Required Course. 2 points.
(Open to the Museum Studies students only)
Students conduct research combining their academic and professional interests, using appropriate methodology. They formulate a topic, prepare an annotated bibliography, and write a qualifying paper based on their research. M.A. students also develop their thesis proposal.
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MSMS-GA 3991
Section: 1 and 2
Research Seminar

Required Course. 2 points.
(Open to the Museum Studies students only)
Students conduct research combining their academic and professional interests, using appropriate methodology. They formulate a topic, prepare an annotated bibliography, and write a qualifying paper based on their research. M.A. students also develop their thesis proposal.
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Cross-listed courses:

MSMS-GA 1010 (Same as HIST-GA 1010)
Introduction to Archives

Elective. 4 points.
Introduction to the theoretical and methodological issues involving archives, historical documentation, and historical resources. Focuses on the history of records and record keeping, development of archival theory, appraisal, arrangement and description, reference, legal and ethical issues, and current trends in the profession.
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MSMS-GA 1750 (same as HIST-GA 1750)
Introduction to Public History
Elective. 4 points.
Reviews the history of public history from the early twentieth century through the present, focusing on historians? relationships, dialogues, and collaborations with public audiences. Considers issues involving memory, identity, heritage, commemoration, historic preservation, history museums, oral history, film, and digital history.
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