Museum and Field Studies graduate student preparing exhibit in the Anthropology Hall at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History

The Museum and Field Studies program of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History offers students a multidisciplinary course of study leading either to a Master of Science (MS) or Graduate Professional Certificate in Museology. The Master of Science degree is a terminal degree in Museum and Field Studies. Students completing the MS will be prepared to be collections managers, curatorial assistants, registrars, museum educators, exhibit developers, and administrators. Some students choose to pursue a PhD in their cognate discipline to prepare them for advanced curatorial work in museums. The MS degree is also valuable to students who wish to become outdoor educators, interpreters, or naturalists.

The MS degree is designed as a two-year program and requires 32 credit hours of course work, plus 150 hours of off-campus internship. The program offers individuals the opportunity to gain expertise in museum theory and practice as well as topical knowledge in a cognate discipline. Our primary focus in museology includes curation, collections management, exhibit design, museum education and administration. Students also choose a museum-related minor (cognate) for topical study (i.e., anthropology, biology [including botany, entomology and zoology], paleontology, history, art history, or education). Individual curricula are tailored further by choosing the Collections/Field or the Public/Administration track. Students have the option of completing either a Master's thesis or a Master's project. The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History serves as a laboratory for application of learned concepts and techniques.

The Graduate Professional Certificate program requires 12 credit hours of graduate museum studies coursework and a 75-hour museum internship. This program provides professional training and certification for students at the University of Colorado, Boulder whose primary enrollment is in a graduate program in another museum-related discipline (e.g., Anthropology, Art, Art History, Biology, Business Administration, Education, Geological Sciences, History, etc.). Additionally, the Certificate program is open to museum professionals in Colorado and the surrounding Rocky Mountain region. The program provides an avenue for early and mid-career museum staff to upgrade their skills and credentials in order to better meet the challenges and opportunities that museum work affords in the 21st century. The application for the Professional Certificate is available by contacting the Museum and Field Studies office.

Museum and Field Studies students have found positions in museums across the country, from the American Museum of Natural History to the Denver Art Museum. Our graduates have also found positions within the U.S. Government and private companies. For more information on where our graduates are now, check out our page on Museum and Field Studies Graduate Placement.