Museum Studies is an interdisciplinary program that serves multiple departments in the Colleges of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Fine and Applied Arts, and Education and the School of Information Sciences. It is housed in the Department of Anthropology. The program offers a graduate minor in museum studies, effective Fall 2009. It also offers an undergraduate curriculum and serves as an informal hub of museum-related research on campus.

Graduate Minor in Museum Studies

Program Requirements and Forms

Forms for declaring your intent to pursue the minor, tracking your progress in the minor, and completing your capstone project can be completed electronically. Please submit forms directly to Dr. Susan Frankenberg, the Museum Studies Program Coordinator, at museumstudies@illinois.edu when completed with each form. 

Program Courses for Graduate Students

  • MUSE 500 Core Problems in Museum Theory and Practice
  • MUSE 589 Special Topics in Museum Studies
  • MUSE 590 Museum Studies Capstone
  • ANTH 420 Case Studies Global Heritage
  • ANTH 460/LA 460/RST 459 Heritage Management
  • ANTH 557 Social Construction of Space
  • ANTH 558 Key Issues in Heritage Studies
  • ANTH 560/LAW 678 Anthropology and Law
  • ARTE 472 Art Exhibition Practice
  • ARTH 450 Institutional Critique
  • ARTH 460 Museum Management
  • IS 426 Museum Informatics
  • IS 493 Topics in Cultural Heritage, Collection Management, & Preservation
  • IS 523 Preserving Info Resources
  • IS 538 Seminar in Cultural Heritage, Collection Management, & Preservation
  • IS 560 Social Science Research in Library & Information Science
  • IS 562 Administration and Use of Archival Materials
  • IS 573 Advanced Topics in Collections
  • LA 594 Cultural Heritage
  • RST 570/ANTH 570 Cultural Aspects of Tourism
  • THEA 432 Lighting for Non-Theatrical Spaces & Styles
  • THEA 457 Model Making for the Stage
  • Other graduate seminars specifically about museums via a petition process

For more information about both graduate and undergraduate curricula, museum studies events and other resources, please direct contact Dr. Susan Frankenberg, Museum Studies Program Coordinator.

Program Contact Information

Dr. Susan Frankenberg, Museum Studies Program Coordinator
Department of Anthropology
University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign
109 Davenport Hall (MC‐148)
607 Mathews Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217)-244‐1984
E‐mail: museumstudies@illinois.edu OR sfranken@illinois.edu