MA in Museums, History & Culture
New Degree Program
This degree will be available starting in fall 2025.
George Washington University’s MA in Museums, History and Culture is a unique joint degree program, drawing on the expertise of faculty in History, American Studies and Museum Studies. The program offers a range of courses emphasizing both historical scholarship and practical application, preparing graduates for careers in museums, historic sites and a range of other public-facing historical programs.
Students can choose an area focus — either U.S. culture or specific aspects of global or world history. The curriculum provides a firm grounding in historical training and interdisciplinary American Studies methods, as well as museum fundamentals such as exhibition development, public engagement, collections management, museum administration and ethics.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
Program Benefits
Professional Training
Unlike public history programs, this is a history-based MA that is organized specifically around museum-based skills, practice and ethics.
Faculty Expertise
Students benefit from the expertise of faculty in Museum Studies, History and American Studies—a multi-disciplinary learning experience steeped in theory and practice.
Unique Access
GW’s location and the access it affords provides students a host of opportunities for on-site education, internships, and networking in Washington DC.
Capstone
The program culminates with a capstone project, which all students are required to complete. This will be a public-facing project — exhibition prototype, program, web-based or other media — that incorporates original scholarship in the form of independent study.
Course Requirements
This program will begin in the fall 2025 semester. Applications are currently being accepted.
The following requirements must be fulfilled:
The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate Programs.
36 credits, including 6 credits in required methodology courses, 6 credits in selected museum skills courses, 3 credits in applied work, a 3-credit capstone project, and 18 credits in elective courses.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required | ||
| Methodology courses | ||
| AMST 6100 | Scope and Methods in American Studies | |
| or HIST 6005 | Introduction to Historiography | |
| CMST 6107 | Museum Ethics and Values | |
| Museum skills selected courses | ||
| Two courses (6 credits) selected from the following: | ||
| CMST 6101 | Museum Management | |
| CMST 6201 | Introduction to Museum Collections | |
| CMST 6301 | Museum Exhibition Curatorial Research and Planning | |
| Applied work | ||
| CMST 6501 | Museum Studies Internship | |
| or CMST 6304 | Exhibition Development and Scriptwriting | |
| Capstone project | ||
| One 3 credit semester course approved by the director in which the student produces a capstone project. * | ||
| Electives | ||
| 18 credits (six courses) in a combination of Museum Studies (CMST), History (HIST), and American Studies (AMST) courses selected in consultation with the program director. | ||
*The capstone course usually will be AMST 6195 Research Seminar in American Studies or a History (HIST) course designated as a research seminar. Students can arrange to use an independent study to fulfill the capstone requirement with the approval of the program director and a specific professor. The final project completed in a course listed above also could be used to fulfill the requirement for a capstone with the approval of the program director; in such cases the student must take an additional elective course within one of the participating departments.