Museum Studies

Ripon College offers a minor in Museum Studies.

Museum Studies is an interdisciplinary field designed to provide students with a methods-focused plan of study that will provide training for any museum-related field.

Courses seek to introduce students to nonprofit organizational management and communication, and provide a basis of understanding in the various subjects of museums whether history, art, archaeology and beyond. Students will learn about the various facets of museums, including curation, administration, acquisition, preservation and restoration, arrangement, exhibition and installation, public relations, research, education, fundraising, and records maintenance.

Upcoming travel opportunities with faculty members include a Maymester to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, and a semester in Tanzania focused on Ecology and Human Origins.

Faculty

Course Guide: Museum Studies

Advising

Ripon College encourages all students to embrace a Four-Year Career Development Plan. This plan is based on the premise that career planning is a development process that involves learning and decision-making over an extended period of time.

First Year

Incoming students are assigned a Faculty Mentor based on their interest area(s). Please see the FACULTY tab under your major area;
All Freshman are required to enroll in a First-Year Seminar, which is designed as a transition from high school to college learning, providing an interdisciplinary introduction to the liberal arts and the pursuit of in-depth study;
Freshman are encouraged to meet the career development staff early on and complete interest and skills inventories, and self-assessment tools; and,
Attend the pre-Fall Break “Major Fest” to explore the various major options and career tracks.

Third Year

Assume leadership positions in on-campus clubs and organizations;
Participate in mock interviews with the Career Development Office;
Attend the Wisconsin Foundation of Independent Colleges Job Fair in February and other relevant career fairs;
If relevant, begin to research potential graduate school programs and take the appropriate entrance exam(s);
Continue to meet regularly with your Faculty Mentor;
Continue to build a solid network and a list of work references, and build your resume;
Consider off-campus study: Semester and/or alternative Spring Breaks;
Continue to job shadow; and,
Gain further career experience associated with your education during the academic year and as part of a summer job or internship.

Second Year

Get involved with on-campus clubs and organizations, athletic teams and/or intramural sports;
Attend the pre-Fall Break “Major Fest” to explore the various major options and career tracks;
Declare a major;
Meet regularly with your Faculty Mentor or match your interests with a faculty member in your major department. Determine which professors have areas of expertise most similar to your interests. Talk to people in the academic department to find out about faculty research, scholarly, and creative interests;
Attend on-campus career workshops;
Work with the Career Development Office to create an approved resume;
Job shadow people involved in various careers and professions of interest; and,
Gain further career experience associated with your education during the academic year and as part of a summer job or internship.

Fourth Year

Complete a Senior Capstone/Thesis in your major area(s);
Continue to meet regularly with your Faculty Mentor;
Perfect your interviewing skills;
Expand your existing network of contacts;
Finalize your resume and prepare cover letter;
Build a credential file in the Career Development Office;
Interview with on-campus recruiters;
Set-up informational interviews with target companies;
If relevant, apply to graduate school programs, and if necessary, re-take entrance exams; and,
Practice career goal-setting.

What can I do with Museum Studies minor?

Museum Studies can lead to a variety of careers in museums and archives, and nonprofit management.

Recent graduates of our program work for…

Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety
AmeriCorps
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare
Fox Valley Autism Treatment Program
Minnesota Autism Center
The Nielsen Company
Wisconsin Historical Society
Illinois Judicial System
St. Norbert College

Job titles of recent graduates include…

Archaeologist
Case Manager
Legislative Analyst
Marketing Analyst
Police Officer
Supervisor
Adjunct Faculty
Corps Team Member
Grant Manager

Off-Campus Study

Ripon College’s faculty encourage their students to acquire experience in other cultures through participation in off-campus study. The College offers study abroad semesters in countries around the world, Maymester study-and-travel experiences to such destinations as Peru and Chile, and an upcoming semester in Tanzania led by Ripon anthropology professor Molly Margaretten.

Ripon is one of the nation’s rare colleges to offer continuing archaeological field work opportunities as part of regularly held classes. Locally, faculty members and students carry out excavations at prehistoric and historic sites. Fieldwork opportunities abroad also are available through our Maymester program and off-campus study programs.

During Maymester in 2010, anthropology major Betsy Fontaine traveled with Professor William Whitehead and fellow students to the Moquegua region in southern Peru, where she worked in a museum organizing plant materials from the pre-Inca Tiwanaku and Wari cultures. Betsy also had the opportunity to spend a semester in London, England, and in Florence, Italy.

Academics | Museum Studies