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ARTM 501 
Museums and the Public I: People and Ideas 
3 credits

This course addresses the various roles museums play in society, accentuating the position of the museum as a significant cultural institution whose form and very existence depends upon a rich interchange with its community, local and global. It is designed largely as a series of invited lectures by museum professionals such as museum directors, curators, donors, fundraisers, docent trainers, web designers, etc., with both theoretical and practical knowledge of museums. These lectures, combined with weekly readings, will serve as springboards for individual analysis and class discussion.

ARTM 502 
Museums: Past, Present, and Future
3 credits

This course provides the student with a survey of the history of collections, collecting, and private and public display of objects from antiquity to the present. Issues addressed include the relationship between collecting, classifying and the birth of museums, the role of travel and conquest in the formation of collections, and the shaping of taste and religious, cultural, political and financial impacts on the display of collections in museum contexts. Visits to historical collections are an integral part of the course. Offered fall semester.

ARTM 503 
Museum Development, Management, and Leadership 
3 credits

This course provides a basic understanding of how modern museums are structured, administered and financed in various parts of the world while offering leadership and management skills at various levels of the museum hierarchy. Some issues to be addressed include what makes an effective non-profit leader and manager, potential controversies and legal problems that can arise in museums and developing strategies for dealing with them, operational issues, growth potential, and strategic planning and capital expense budgeting in a museum context.

ARTM 504 
Art and Objects in Museums and in Context 
3 credits

This course addresses the problems of the meaning, context, and display of art and objects through three case studies, each covered by a different instructor for one-third of the semester. Case studies will be in 1) Florentine Renaissance art objects in context and in museum settings in Florence, 2) contemporary art and the special problems it poses to museums and 3) non-art museums (such as history or history of science museums) and the objects they house. Students will assess the effectiveness and sustainability of museum displays according to various parameters including viewer expectations, cultural biases, and the fostering of aesthetic systems, religious and conservation issues.

ARTM 507 
Research and Field Methods I: Methodology and Resources
1 credit

Students will be introduced to modes and places of research in Florence and will develop and hone critical analytical skills by critiquing published papers in a variety of museum studies fields and using a variety of methodologies. Offered fall semester.

ARTM 600 
Thesis-in-Progress

Students must file an extension form and register for this one-credit course for each semester after ARTM 625 if they do not complete their theses by the end of that course. The granting of extensions and registering for this course is dependent on satisfactory progress on the thesis, as determined through required written progress reports signed by the thesis advisor and submitted to the Program Director(s). Offered every semester.

ARTM 601 
Museums and the Public II: Objects and Audience 
3 credits

Designed to follow “Museums and the Public I: People and Ideas,” this course offers the student a guided, hands-on experience in the creation, planning, researching, financing, structuring, installation, and marketing of a focus show for the general public at a Florentine institution, such as the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi. It involves 15 taught hours and roughly 200 hours of guided student work on the various aspects of the exhibition outlined above.

ARTM 602 
Transcultural Aesthetics, Ethnography and Cultural Bias 
3 credits

This course seeks to address the relationships between aesthetics, religion and the socio-cultural function of objects and the delicate role of museums in fostering aesthetic systems. The differences between art museums, archaeology museums, and ethnography museums will be reviewed as will definitions of art and artifact. The role of photography and other didactic measures will be evaluated historically and conceptually. Most of this analysis will take place through case studies.

ARTM 603 
Museum Spaces and Technologies 
3 credits

This course investigates the design of museum spaces and the various architectural and technological means used to enhance the public experience of the content of those spaces. Virtual museums and web presence will also be addressed insofar as these are related to and often derived from the experience of physical displays in the museum. Special attention will be given to issues of sustainability and the importance of local context in creating museum experiences.

ARTM 604 
Museum Education 
3 credits

Using case studies and theoretical analyses, this course explores how museums reach out to their communities, including the staging of events for public outreach, teaching from objects and teaching others (guides, volunteers, interns) to teach from objects, and the educational use of technologies. It will also examine the role of the museum educator and his or her engagement with the phenomena of formal, informal, and lifelong learning. Students interested in pursuing a career as a museum educator are strongly encouraged to enroll.

ARTM 605 
Conservation and Historic Preservation 
3 credits

This course investigates the ethical, historical and cultural issues in the conservation and preservation of museum objects using selected case studies. Topics include the assessment of the historical significance of objects, risk management approaches to the management of cultural property, and issues relating to the care, handling, and storage of art objects and museum buildings.

ARTM 606 
Museums: Ethics and the Law 
3 credits

This course introduces the student to the legal and ethical issues faced by museums as repositories of cultural property across the world. Issues explored on a comparative international basis include copyright, censorship, public interest, appropriate conservation, theft, dubious provenance, and repatriation of art and artifacts.

ARTM 607 
Research and Field Methods II: The Thesis/Practicum Proposal 
1 credit

Completed in the early months of the spring term, this course follows “Research and Field Methods I: Methodologies and Resources” and essentially serves as a forum in which the students choose their area of concentration and develop the prospectus for the Master’s thesis or Practicum. In the class sessions, students will propose thesis or Practicum topics, present, and critique, and revise thesis or Practicum proposals. Students are required to meet with prospective faculty advisors and make a final selection of a Thesis Advisor/Practicum. At the conclusion of this course, students will have selected an advisor and have an accepted proposal which they will present publically. If no advisor is selected by the time the Academic Plan is submitted, an appropriate advisor will be appointed by the Program Director(s). Offered spring semester.

ARTM 620 
Internship 
4 credits

Upon the successful completion of “Research Methods II: The Thesis Proposal” in which the student’s thesis prospectus is approved (usually in April) and the faculty advisor is chosen, he or she may begin the internship. While students may initiate the internship anytime after the approval of the Master’s Thesis prospectus, most will opt to undertake the bulk of this work experience once they have completed their Spring term courses as they will have more time and more flexibility to offer their host institution. Students will choose an internship of a minimum of 200 hours which will bring the student in contact with a real working museum institution, giving him or her the opportunity to test the theoretical knowledge and the practical skills acquired while taking “Museums and the Public II: Objects and Audience.” The internship may be completed in Florence or elsewhere and will be jointly supervised by LdM staff and the host institution. All approved internships will comply with Italian health and safety codes.

ARTM 625
Master's Thesis
4 credits

Upon the successful completion of “Research and Field Methods II: The Thesis/Practicum Proposal” in which the student’s thesis proposal is approved and the Thesis Advisor chosen, and all requirements of the Marist College IRB have been fulfilled, the student may begin to research and write their thesis. [Note: All Pre-Doctoral students must complete a thesis.]

ARTM 626 
Master’s Practicum 
4 credits

Upon the successful completion of “Research and Field Methods II: The Thesis/Practicum Proposal” in which the student’s practicum proposal is approved and the Practicum Advisor chosen, and all requirements of the Marist College IRB have been fulfilled, the student may begin to work on their practicum. [Note: the option for a Practicum is only available for students on the Professional track. All Pre-Doctoral students must complete a thesis.]