Collections—material, visual, textual, even virtual—support scholarship in virtually every academic endeavor. To curate these collections means learning to preserve, classify, study, interpret, and disseminate them. IU’s curatorship program prepares you both to use the full range of historical and contemporary collections, and to ask the key intellectual questions that will make them useful in the world.
Earning the master’s degree
The degree’s 30 required credits include:
- a sequence of 3 core courses (to be selected from a list of four specific classes—on curatorship, exhibitions, museum history, and organization of knowledge),
- several semesters of practicum work (and one capstone project) based in IUB’s 50+ collections,
- two classes of your choice in a selected discipline in any of the three participating schools,
- and two relevant electives.
Students must complete a minimum of nine core credits from this list:
- AADM-Y 506 / FOLK-F 731 Curating in Galleries and Museums
- HIST-H 697 History of Collections and Museums
- ANTH-E 633 / ARTH-A 691 / FOLK-F 730 Museums and Material Culture/Exhibitions
- ILS-Z 503 Representation and Organization
Students select an academic discipline in the Curatorship Program. What field would you like to explore more? You can select any of the majors offered by our partner schools—everything from Arts Administration to Library Science to Media Arts & Sciences. Students must complete a minimum of six credits within an academic discipline.
For your two electives, go even deeper into a specific academic discipline and/or select six credits from any of our academic partners (College of Arts & Sciences, the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, & Engineering, and the O'Neill School of Public & Environment Affairs).
Find it hard to decide? Would you like some suggestions? Talk with us, review with your faculty advisor, or see an elective list. To see which courses are offered each semester, remember to check the Schedule of Classes.
Using relevant graduate courses suitable for independent projects (ex: ARTH-A 775, AMST-G 753, FOLK-F 800, ILS-Z 602), your plan of study will include at least nine practicum and capstone project credits pursued in partnership with a campus or other museum or collection. The capstone project may be an exhibition, a collections research study, or other curatorial activity approved by the faculty chair.
Earning the PhD minor
Are you already enrolled in an IU doctoral program? Would you like to earn an outside minor in Curatorship? There are two ways to do so. Let us show you how.Find related degrees
Our partner schools (the College of Arts & Sciences; the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering; and the O’Neill School of Public and Environment Affairs) offer complementary graduate degrees to the MA in Curatorship.
See what our partners offer