Museum Studies
Minor
Program Overview
Immerse yourself in museum exhibits, education programs and collections. A minor in museum studies from CMU gives you the skills you need to launch a successful career in museums, historic sites, corporate collections, national parks and related sites.
Program Snapshot
Why This Program & What You'll Learn
Do you have a passion for museums? Then this interdisciplinary minor is for you.
As a student of museum studies here, you’ll have access to CMU’s own Museum of Cultural and Natural History, which houses tens of thousands of artifacts and specimens, collections important for research, teaching, and interpretation. The museum serves as a hands-on laboratory where our students learn how to create educational programs, exhibits, and social media-based upon artifacts and specimens of regional, national, and international significance.
You’ll learn how to plan and install exhibits. You’ll explore public programming using museum collections. You’ll take on an internship with a museum, historic site, archive or other learning center. And you’ll prepare to enter the workforce or continue your education in museum studies or a related field.
The museum studies minor draws from departments across the university, including anthropology, accounting, biology, history, communications, art, fashion merchandising and design, public administration, and parks recreation and leisure studies. It’s an excellent complement to any major, including biology, geology, earth science, anthropology, history, geography and beyond.
Program Highlights
As a student in our museum studies program, you can:
- Qualify to participate in a unique research project related to local or regional history, maritime history and underwater archaeology, historic trails or collections research and management.
- Explore your specific interests by choosing electives like Cultural Anthropology, Natural History of Vertebrates, Environmental Interpretation, Public History, American Military History, and Prehistoric Life.
- Apply for funding and scholarship opportunities specifically designed for museum studies students.
- Get real-world experience through a hands-on internship with the Smithsonian, National Park Service, National Archives, The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, Mackinac State Historic Parks or the institution of your choice.
- Conduct research using the collections of CMU’s Museum of Cultural and Natural History.
Careers & Outcomes
A minor in museum studies prepares you to work in a museum or a related field. You’ll be equipped for a variety of roles in art galleries, aquariums, zoos, nature centers, science centers, historic sites and battlefields, national parks, history museums, botanical gardens, corporate and national archives and collections, and more.
| Career | Projected Salary |
|---|---|
| College Professor/Instructor | $79,640 |
| Archivist, Curator, or Museum Worker | $58,640 |
| Museum Director | $50,120 |
| Museum Technicians and Conservators | $47,270 |
| Set and Exhibit Designer | $59,990 |
| Historian | $76,269 |
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