Hobart and William Smith Colleges

In the Critical Museum Studies minor, our students approach museums, cultural institutions, and galleries with a critical eye and a practical knowledge of many aspects of public history and material culture. This minor helps prepare our students for a variety of careers in numerous types of cultural institutions—such as research, collections handling, installation, graphic design, museum education, heritage management, media production, administration, educational tourism and specialized writing. The minor is composed of three “tracks” focusing on art museums and galleries, public and cultural history, and museums in a non-traditional sense. The minor is composed of an introductory course (currently ARTH 214  Introduction to Critical Museum Studies or ANTH 218 It Belongs in a Museum), three electives from the student’s track of choice, and either a practicum or a portfolio, in consultation with the student’s minor adviser.

Critical Museum Studies Minor, Declaration/Audit Form

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MINOR
interdisciplinary, 5 courses
At least three courses must be unique to the minor. All courses for the minor must be completed with a grade of C- or better. Only the Capstone CMST 300 may be taken for a CR grade. No more than one course may be a transfer credit.

CMST Minor Courses
ANTH 205 Race, Class, & Ethnicity
ANTH 218 It Belongs in a Museum
ANTH 222 Native American Religions
ANTH 273 Research Methods
ANTH 280 Environment & Culture
ANTH 296 Africa: Beyond Crisis, Poverty & Aid
ANTH 330 The Anthropology of Creativity
ANTH 319 Feminist and Political Anthropology
AMST 221 Immigrant Arts: Intro. To Asian American Cultures
AMST 270 Storytelling with Data
AMST 220 Drawing for Study and Storytelling
AMST 330 Digital Humanities
AMST 333 Other American Studies
AMST 360 Debating Community: Controversies in the Public Humanities
AMST 371 Civil War in Popular Memory
ARTH 201 Black Arts
ARTH 205 Gender & Display
ARTH 208 Greek Art & Architecture
ARTH 210 Women Artists
ARTH 212 Arts of Modern China
ARTH 221 Renaissance Art 
ARTH 305 Constructing Gender in the Renaissance
ARTH 204-99 Art Conservation and Museology (on-site in Rome)
ARTS/WMST 301 Feminist Oral History 
BIDS 204 Art History and Chemistry in Museums
EDUC 201 Schooling and Social Equality
ENTR 220 Social Innovation
HIST 212 Historical Research Methods (History of HWS)
HIST 240 Immigration and Ethnicity in America
HIST 371 The Civil War in American Memory
MDSC 100 Intro to Media and Society
MDSC 200 Cultures of Advertising
MDSC 304 Media and Theory
MDSC 390 The Video Essay
SOC 238 Immigrant America
SOC 251 Sociology of the city
SOC  253 Global Cities
WMST 150 Chicana Feminism & Visual Culture
WMST 218 Queer Representations in Theatre & Film
WMST 220  The Body Politic
WMST 300 Feminist Theory
WMST 308 Chicana & Latina Art

CMST Minor Tracks

Track 1: Art Museums and Galleries
AMST 330 Digital Humanities
ARTH 201 Black Arts
ARTH 208 Greek Art & Architecture
ARTH 210 Women Artists
ARTH 212 Arts of Modern China
ARTH 305 Constructing Gender in the Renaissance
ARTH 205 Gender  & Display 
ARTH 202 Art Internship: Catalog
ARTH 203 Art Internship: Exhibition
ARTH 204 Arts Internships: Acquisition
ARTH 204-99 Art Conservation and Museology (on-site in Rome)
BIDS 204 Art History and Chemistry in Museums
CHEM 308 Chemistry of Art
ENTR 220 Social Innovation for the Entrepreneur
MDSC 390 The Video Essay
WMST 150 Chicana Feminism & Visual Culture
WMST 308 Chicana & Latina Art
WRRH   Digital Rhetorical Writing with New Technologies

Track 2: History and Cultural Museums
AMST 333 Other American Studies
AMST 360 Debating Community: Controversies in the Public Humanities
AMST 330 Digital Humanities
ANTH 102 Intro to Archeology and World Prehistory
ANTH 205 Race, Class, & Ethnicity
ANTH 210 Precolonial Africa
ANTH 218 It Belongs in a Museum
ANTH 222 Native American Religions
ANTH 282  North American Indians
ANTH 273 Research Methods
ANTH 280 Environment & Culture
ANTH 310 Experimental Archeology and Paleotechnology
ANTH 319 Feminist and Political Anthropology
ANTH 326 Pre Columbian Mesoamerica
EDU 348 Our National Parks
HIST 348 Public History
HIST 371 The Civil War in American Memory
HIST212 Historical Research Methods (History of HWS)
ARTS/WMST 301  Feminist Oral History

Track 3: Beyond Museums
AFS 311 Social Media Empires and eColonism
AFS 315 #Blacklivesmatter
AMST 333 Other American Studies
AMST 330 Digital Humanities
DAN 214 Movement Studies
DAN 230 Community Arts 
EDU 335 Arts & Education
ENTR 220 Social Innovation
MDSC 200 Cultures of Advertising
MDSC 304 Media and Theory
MDSC 390 The Video Essay
THTR 362 Designing for Theatre and Stage
WMST 213 Transnational Feminism
WRRH   Digital Rhetorical Writing with New Technologies

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
ARTH 214 Introduction to Critical Museum Studies This course is an introduction to the history and theory of museums. It will also provide an overview of some of the professional responsibilities relevant to museum work including curation, collections care, and exhibition design. The focus will be on the role of museums in processes of colonization, memory making, and nation building, as well as the opportunities museums offer for social advocacy. Aiming to provide a wide-ranging and challenging introduction to the theoretical issues involved in contemporary museum practice as a sociologically informed and socially-situated discipline, this course will encourage the development of critically aware perspectives on professional practice and research processes. The aim of this course is to familiarize students from a range of subject specialisms with current issues in museology, and the ways in which museums have been developing from storehouses of culture and centers of authority to flexible places that engage with communities and invite audiences to author their own museum experiences.

CMST 300 Capstone Experience The CMST 300 capstone experience is determined collaboratively by the student and their CMST adviser and can take one of two forms: an internship practicum placement or a portfolio project. For the practicum option, the student is paired with an institutional partner whose mission and function aligns with the student's own interests and goals. In consultation with their adviser, CMST students will work with a supervisor on site who will be in communication with their adviser regarding expectations and performance. The practicum will culminate in a formative evaluation provided by the on-site supervisor as well as written summative reflection paper to be submitted by the student's adviser. The second CMST 300 option is the creation of a portfolio the contents of which should correspond to the nature of the student's coursework, and therefore, the artifacts therein will reflect work on a project that is relevant to the type of cultural institution within which they would like to work. This can include a digital exhibition, a collection assessment, public programming proposal, or a research paper, among other possibilities.