Who visits museums?  How are collections and archives constructed? What social roles do museums and archives play? Students in this Pathway will explore the diverse traditions of collection, curation, research, display, and preservation.

Students in the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway consider the histories, techniques, and challenges common to the diverse traditions of museums and collections, curation, and preservation practices. From small archives to large national collections, difficult dialogues surrounding justice and equity with respect to objects, collections, and accessibility are taking place at greater frequency. The Pathway seeks to promote and support a wide range of voices and to prioritize non-western contexts in decolonizing collections and institution. To this end, courses may also focus on specialized theoretical approaches to address histories of collection, teaching, and display, but also to confront issues of ownership, cultural patrimony, colonialism, and ethics.

Students who choose this Pathway might expect to:

• Build on critical understandings of the organization of arts, material culture, and science institutions
• Explore controversial aspects of history, culture, and identity
• Develop skills in information and collection management
• Learn about conservation and preservation techniques

Careers associated with this Pathway include an extraordinary array of disciplinary perspectives in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. They include, but are not limited to:

• Archival Science & Ethics, Documentary & Digital Preservation
• Library Science & Education
• Museum Studies & Curation (including Natural History, from botany to biology and paleontology to zoology)
• Public History
• Specialized Collections
• Digital Collections & Display
• Fine Arts
• Museum Education
• Museum & Gallery Management
• Corporate Collections Management
• Art Acquisition and Dealership
• Collection/Display Design & Ethics
• Cultural Patrimony & the Law
• Preservation & Conservation
• Archaeological Analyses
• Archaeological Ethics

Take three (3) courses fitting the following descriptions.

Students are required to complete three courses (from different departments) from the approved list below.

It is strongly encouraged that every MUSE Pathway student take MUST 11000: Introduction to Museum Studies.

Some important provisions:

• Students may complete courses from multiple Interest Categories, provided that these decisions are made in consultation with a Pathway advisor, and that the student articulates the reasons for these selections in a written reflection.
• The same course cannot count more than one time within the Pathway.
• Courses in the Pathway can count toward graduate requirements (including those requirements within a major and/or minor)
• Students are encouraged to complete coursework outside of an intended major or minor

Completed coursework from the approved list below will be automatically applied toward the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway requirements in your degree audit, which you may view in Colleague Self-Service.

If you see a course that is of interest to you and that you think fits into one of these areas, please suggest it to the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway program team. If approved, that course can count toward your MUSE Pathway program.

*Course has pre-requisite or requires instructor permission to register

PATH 11003: Initial Reflection – MUSE

This course asks you to complete three basic steps:

1. Spend time reflecting on several questions about why you’ve chosen this Pathway, noticing how your experiences and various aspects of your personal identity might play into your career direction.
2. Career readiness assessments – complete a self-assessment of 8 career readiness areas, ask a former supervisor to assess you also, and then compare the two in order to generate goals for growth as a professional.
3. Discuss your thoughts with other Museum & Archival students, faculty, and staff.
4. Write about how your initial thoughts, the conversations you had with your Pathway community, and any new or different insights you have as a result.

PATH 22003: Career Planning – MUSE

For this course, you will explore career and internship resources supported by Career Planning in APEX, specifically Handshake and LinkedIn. You will also craft a career-ready resume. We strongly encourage you to take advantage of the many resources offered by the Career Planning office to bring your resume to a truly professional level. Booking an appointment with a Career Planning staff member or peer advisor to go over your resume is strongly recommended.

PATH 33003: Experiential Learning – MUSE

This course asks you to complete an authentic, hands-on experience in one of the career areas you’re exploring. It is more than simply having an experience, however. In order to maximize the benefits and learning you gain, you will deliberately walk through goal setting, planning, and “preflection” (pre-reflection) before you complete the career experience. During and after your experience, you will spend time considering what you learned about yourself from the experience and how those lessons might impact your next career steps. Completing this thorough, guided process is what makes this “experiential learning” rather than just an experience.

**Note that this course will require you to complete some components BEFORE registering**

Steps to complete PATH 330:

Before Registering:

1. Explore a range of possible experiences that will help you further your career goals.
2. Plan your EL experience, taking advantage of resources and assistance offered by faculty or staff on the Pathway team, someone from APEX’s Experiential Learning & Community Engagement Office, Wooster alumni working in the career field, and/or your own connections in the field.
3. Complete the EL Approval Form & gain official approval from your Pathway faculty/staff team.

During the Course:

1. Complete your EL experience (can be done before or during PATH 330).
2. Upload your EL Verification Form.
3. Complete a self-assessment of your career readiness as revealed through your EL experience and reflect on any differences with your supervisor’s evaluation in the EL Verification Form.
4. Submit your post-EL reflection.

PATH 44003: Final Reflection – MUSE

When you’ve completed all the elements of the Pathway – PATH 110, 220, 330 and your chosen topical courses – you will reflect on your total Pathways experience with questions like: What did the topical courses teach you that are relevant to this career area? What are the career lessons from your experiential learning experience(s)? How did your perceptions of this career area and your place in it shift over time and where have they landed for now? When you step back and look at the bigger picture of your Pathways experience, in what ways are you stronger and more prepared to take your next career steps?

You will present your reflections publicly, which both encourages significant reflection and benefits those who are coming behind you on their own career journeys. Generally, students will do this by presenting a poster at a college event.

Other, smaller, components of the PATH 440 course include:

1. Update your resume to be career ready.
2. Create or update your LinkedIn profile.
3. Complete a final career readiness assessment series:
   • Assess yourself, especially observing any growth that’s happened over your time in the Pathway
   • Ask a current supervisor, adult coworker, coach, or your IS advisor to complete an assessment
   • Compare and contrast all career readiness assessments (all your self- assessments plus all your supervisor assessments) to discover areas you’ve grown and determine your next steps for growth in these important areas.
4. Complete a few short end-of-Pathways surveys.

Students in the MUSE Pathway are required to complete one (1) EL opportunity.

Students are required to complete at least one experiential learning opportunity.

EL opportunities in the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway should:

• be a substantial/sustained off-campus internship, work experience, or volunteer opportunity
• be in the area of your interest and goals
• provide hands-on experience working with digital, written, or visual materials
• additional criteria included in EL Approval Form

Some important provisions:

• EL-credentialed courses can not count both toward Pathways course requirements and as an EL opportunity.
• Students must spend a minimum of 45 hours participating in their EL experience.

Example EL opportunities for the Museum & Archival Studies Pathway

The purpose of this experience is to “try out” the type of career you’re interested in. This allows you the opportunity to experience it first hand and reflect on components of the work you enjoy and don’t enjoy, giving you important insights to use as you consider whether this type of career is, in fact, a good fit for you or whether you might pursue something slightly (or totally) different. The experience should also offer you the chance to network in your career area of interest and ask purposeful questions of professionals in the field.

Note: an experience might technically “count” as an EL for this Pathway but not be a good fit for you because it doesn’t help you explore and experience careers you’re interested in. It’s strongly recommended that you focus on experiences related to your specific career interests.

Some on-campus EL opportunities include the following:

• Museum Assistant (College of Wooster Art Museum)
• Library Assistant, Special Collections (College of Wooster Libraries)
• Digital Curation Assistant (College of Wooster Libraries)
• Wooster Digital History Project [see below for more information]
• Digital Lab (College of Wooster Art Museum)
• Research Assistant positions with College faculty/staff – these change each semester — talk with your professors/supervisors about possible opportunities

General off-campus experiences could be:

• Work experience off-campus
• Internships off-campus
• Internships on-campus
• Field Research
• Volunteer work such as docent and museum education or outreach Shadowing Experiences with Alumni
• Related off-campus study programs

Required Training

• None Currently