Career Preparation

One degree. Many opportunities.

The Curatorship MA program prepares you to think creatively about the shifting relationships between objects, images, and information—and then to put those relationships into action in the contemporary world. Your skills, acquired in both classroom and work experiences, can apply to career opportunities in public service, cultural affairs, social advocacy, business, and education—as well as the familiar fields of museums, galleries, and archives.

To learn more about the range of career opportunities for people with curatorial training, visit the job sites of professional associations such as the American Alliance of Museums, Society of American Archivists, or National Council on Public History. Additionally, learned societies and scholarly organizations in your field of interest—such as the American Historical Association, College Art Association, American Folklore Society, and American Anthropological Association—all champion non-academic career tracks for students with graduate-level expertise in those fields. Some of the collections-based opportunities that these organizations list will call for a doctorate in their respective disciplines; others seek MA-level applicants with the kind of mix of practical know-how and disciplinary knowledge that IU Curatorship provides.

50+%curatorial positions requiring advanced degree

13%occupational growth expected 2016–26.  Bureau of Labor Statistics.

22.77median hourly wage

...to ensure that all the university’s collections ... become better known, more fully utilized in IU’s research and teaching missions, and more fully appreciated by the IU community and the general public.  

IU President Michael McRobbie, 2017 State of the University address

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