Majors & Museum Studies

College Majors
1

<p>Because I'll only be a freshman in college next year, I'm not in a time rush, but I would like the food for thought about majors and some of my plans. </p>

<p>The only thing I am fairly sure I want to do is take a museum studies certificate at my college. The program requires a certain sequence of classes, an internship, and a senior project- but will give me access to the school's exhibits as hands on experience. I've been snooping around and understand museums/curatorships are as a general field pretty tough to go into. My own Aunt majored in Art History, but went back to school to get her MD because breaking into actual work in the field was too difficult. </p>

<p>This means I'm considering a few routes for my major- A major that is somewhat unrelated or majors that are more related with a focus in something else. I'm heavily considering majoring in Chinese, because I appreciate East Asian Artwork, and there's a rotating exhibit of this region at the college. I also think Chinese will be useful if I decide I want to work internationally in business or some other field. I've also considered Anthropology - with either a recognized focus in Archaeology, or personal focuses (IE not a specific course structure recognized by the school) in cultural or physical; Art History, History, or Botony (Perhaps a focus on Ethnobotony)...with those just being top contenders. I appreciate most humanities, and would probably consider all of them, if I had a compelling reason to. It is also possible to create my own major. </p>

<p>Does it seem wiser to keep my focuses very close to the museum work I want to end up doing, or to expand my horizons for the necessity of being less limited in a hyper-competitive field? Another thing that worries me is my choice of language- Art History majors are recommended to take french or german if they plan on grad school. While I'm not sure where I'll be come time to seriously consider grad school, I have looked at Museum related fields- Museum Studies/Curatorship studies/Conservation/etc and a few do ask for some abilities in French or German. Should I add a language? </p>

<p>I understand that most people view the humanities as useless- not sure my considering a concentration in Ethnobotony makes plant science look all that much more 'useful' but I enjoy them. I also want to be realistic about a tough field and a way to an eventual job doing something. </p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

2

<p>I suggest sticking with Art History and considering a minor in a foreign language. If you want to break into museum studies a graduate degree is pretty necessary, but you have options. You can go for the MA in Museum Studies or perhaps go for a PhD in Art History, enter academia at a major university and then maneuver yourself over to becoming curator of their art musuem (which many major schools have). If you go for the PhD you’ll need at least elementary proficiency in German, French, and probably Italian, with near fluency in two of them. With the MA, you’ll probably just need intermediate proficiency in one. I’m recommending you stay the course with Art History because, while the field is difficult to break in to, it will be much more difficult if you attempt it with a degree in something more general like History or Anthropology.</p>

3

<p>My only concern with that is I don’t know how easy it will be for me to jump straight into Grad school post Undergrad. Are there jobs I can/could take in the interim if I am not one of the select few who are paid/assistantship’d or what have you for their MA/PhD? I’d need/want time to pay off at least a portion of my student loans for undergrad otherwise. </p>

<p>Is french/german still necessary if I’m not as interested in the Western arts? I’d prefer to look into the Eastern Art History & Chinese but if everything is needing French or German, there’s really no avoiding it. I enjoy French, but I can see it being less in demand than Chinese as my ‘back up’. (An aside: I’m not choosing Chinese merely for the fact that it looks more marketable. It helps, but honestly, I enjoy symbolic languages and difficult ones. I took Japanese, and discussed it with Japanese/Chinese speakers and they all recommended Chinese for me over Japanese) </p>

<p>I also am unsure I’d be able to easily minor in French- the minor requires 6 classes over 200 level, and I’d need to start at the beginning (It’s been awhile) and take 101,102,103, 113, and 114 before I hit the 200’s. I’d be in my 2nd semester of Junior year before I would be able to take my minor credits- unless I managed somehow to fill my summers with classes. German would be easier, but as I understand, French is more desireable.</p>

<p>I really looked at Anthropology because of the specialization in Archaeology available- one of the 400 classes involves an(other) internship with a preservation group/museum/archaeology firm or something else along those lines. Art History has the more obvious benefits I should think- although only one class (Outside the museum studies classes) that I see directly mentions involvement in a student created exhibition, also a 400 class/advanced seminar.</p>

4

<p>I’m not quite sure what the requirements are for emphasizing in East Asian art - I have a few friends working on PhDs in Art History but they are all focusing on Europe. What I do know is this: French is desirable because a lot of scholarship on art and art history in general is produced in French. Other than that, most grad programs require proficiency in a language related to your field of study, so I would assume that Chinese could benefit you, but I won’t swear to it.</p>

<p>As for grad school generally, many PhD programs will guarantee funding of some sort, whether as a scholarship or an assistantship, for the duration of your time of study. The MA is an entirely different story - very, very little funding is available for a terminal Master’s. So basically, if you decide to do the PhD you should be fine, but if you want to go for a Master’s you’ll probably want to wait a few years to become more financially secure.</p>

<p>Should you choose to pursue an MA, I imagine that finding a job won’t be difficult, but finding a museum-related job might be. An undergrad degree in Art History with a minor or at least some proficiency in a foreign language can still be desirable in the business world. Many employers value the analytical skills one acquires from a liberal arts degree. So, you could probably find a job doing just about anything (well, anything non-technical) ranging from teaching at a high school to doing office work. A degree in Anthropology or general History will get you the same thing, though.</p>

<p>I guess this al really boils down to what interests you. If art is your passion, go with art history. Otherwise Anthropology would be a solid choice, but be aware that many anthropology programs require some exposure to forensic/scientific anthropological methodologies (I only bring this up because I know what most art-oriented people abhor science, and vise virsa). The internship you mentioned will certainly give you a competitive edge when on the job market, so that might be a strong choice.</p>

<p>One last bit of information - very few art historians emphasize in nonwestern art, so going with Art History and empahsizing in Asia might make you more desirable. Also, it is not underheard of for someone to major in anthropology then pursue graduate studies in art history.</p>

<p>Let me know if you need any further guidance or advise.</p>

5

<p>• I think you’re entirely too unfocused. Too many fields interest you at this point. And, that’s not a bad thing since you’re not even in college yet. Wait until you explore some subjects in more depth before you decide.
• The only thing you seem sure about is museum studies. I don’t think there’s much value in doing museum studies at the undergrad level. Besides it will crowd out other more important courses. If you’re that interested in it, take a course or two and try to do an internship or summer job in a museum or volunteer as a docent in an art museum.
• Having said that, for the fields that do interest you, start or continue a relevant language in your first year. If the language you choose is Chinese, then you are nearly at a forced decision point early on, since it will take some time to master it. So, the earlier you start it the better. Also, if you have any interest in studying abroad, you should start or continue a language right away. For the fields that interest you, I’m assuming you would benefit from travel or study abroad.
• If you have a strong interest in Chinese art, then you probably should start Chinese right away. You probably can’t do a graduate specialization in Chinese art or curatorial work in Chinese art without it. For graduate work in Chinese art, you would probably need a western language of scholarship, too. This most likely would be French and/or German. One of them will do to start. You don’t need fluency in French or German—just a reading knowledge. So, if it’s Chinese art that interests you, major in art history with a very strong minor in Chinese or double major in art history and Chinese. The reason the art history major is important is that you will still be expected to have some exposure to western art of various periods upon entry to a graduate art history program. Chinese also will be a good language to know for business or other areas if you decide not to pursue graduate study in art history.
• If you decide to major in art history and want to pursue graduate study in Western art history, you should get a reading knowledge of French and/or German. One will do for a master’s degree, but you’ll probably need both for a doctorate. If you apply to a graduate art history program without the language skills you may be at a competitive disadvantage compared to other applicants, and trying to acquire the languages after starting a graduate program may delay completion of your degree. You may be able to substitute another language, e.g., Italian, depending on the area of art history that interests you. For ancient art, you’d need Grek and/or Latin and for medieval art, you’d need Latin. If you’re interest is ancient art, you can do an undergrad major either in art history, classics, or both.
• Anthropology with a focus on archaeology: It would be helpful to study scholarly languages (French and/or German) or languages relevant to a regional interest. If you’re interested in Chinese archaeology, the same considerations apply as those for Chinese art.
• Anthropology with a focus on cultural anthropology: It would be helpful to study scholarly languages (French and/or German) or languages relevant to a regional interest (this might be Spanish or a less common language, e.g., an African language). Of course, for an interest in China, Chinese would be relevant but you don’t need to major in it.
• Anthropology with a focus on physical anthropology: : It would be helpful to study scholarly languages (French and/or German), but may not be entirely necessary.
• History: If you go to graduate school, languages relevant to your field of specialization would be required—again, a reading knowledge, not fluency. You might be able to enter some graduate program in art history, but it may be difficult without sufficient undergrad coursework in the discipline.
• You didn’t mention whether you have an interest in history or anthropology museums.
• Ethnobotany: It may be difficult to enter this field with just an anthropology degree, but you can probably enter it with a botany degree—or, better yet, a double major in botany and anthropology. You also could possibly approach the botany side of it through agricultural sciences, though at many schools with agriculture colleges, the plant sciences are jointly between agriculture and biological sciences departments. Graduate study in pharmacology/toxicology is another possible route into ethnobotany.
• One other field to consider is graduate study in library science. With an art history background, art librarianship is a possibility. With a history background, archival work is a possibility. Both areas are relevant to museum work.
• Finally, with an art history and/or archaeology background, another field to consider is graduate study historic preservation. These programs may be found in schools of architecture & planning.</p>

6

<p>Wow thanks. I’m not sure whether I’m more interested in the actual art side of things as much as I am just the more broad stuff- Museum Studies itself is a subject aside from Art History, so I’m uncertain I’d delve into Art Hist by itself.</p>

<p>I am obviously not going to rush things, but I like to mull over options. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>[ul]
[<em>] The Museum studies program is Four classes mimimum, including the senior seminar, and an internship. I think I’ll have the room to take it.
[</em>] My college has a big emphasis on Study Abroad, which I will probably try to do.
[<em>] They also have funded internship programs, so if I can’t find a paid internship, I can always get $3,000 from the school itself, and itern with whoever will take me.
[</em>] I think anthropological & history museums would also suit me well. I have a special affinity for Asian artwork, but I love history/Natural History/Anthropology. I’m not extremely suited towards the higher sciences (physics, for example), but I enjoy the lower levels of science & life sciences, and would certainly do okay with a few bio classes here and there. I might lean towards Anthropology in some way, simply because it covers more of my passions- and pick and choose a few select art history classes. Art History is just one of my main considerations because art was the reason I came to the conclusion that I would like to work in a museum. This will be my third year setting up and helping run an Art Auction dealing with well known comic and illustrator works. Creating and organizing the displays for the auctions has been a lot of fun, so I wanted to consider continuing doing similar things.
[<em>] The undergrad major available at my school is Botony. You can get a focus on Ethnobotony, however.
[</em>] Languages are clearly important! I’ll figure them heavily in. </p>

<p>[/ul]</p>

<p>I would not mind eventually getting a PhD. By then, I’d be Dr. DNA. :slight_smile: My initials are the perfect case for getting a Doctorates degree. (Obviously not the only reason to do it…) </p>

<p>But thanks for all your help, guys. I’ll continue thinking over my options.</p>