MUSEUM STUDIES GRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

List of courses

Course Title Type Credits

MUS 601 Museology Core 3

MUS 602 Museum Education Core 3

MUS 603 Museum Management Core 3

MUS 604 Museum Exhibition Core 3

MUS 605 Collection Management Core 3

MUS 606 Material Conservation Core 3

MUS 612 Material Culture Optional 3

MUS 614 African Art Optional 3

MUS 616 Natural Sciences and Museums Optional 3

MUS 618 Cultural Resource Management Optional 3

MUS 620 African Landscapes - Cultural and Natural Optional 3

MUS 622 African Civilisations and Societies Optional 3

MUS 701 Dissertation Core 18

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS [abbreviated]

Note: Odd-numbered courses are taught in 1st Semester, even-numbered courses in 2nd Semester.

Graduate Level 6

MUS 601  Museology (Core Course: 3 Credits)

This introductory course provides students with an understanding of the history of museums and their purpose, with special emphasis on the African situation. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text

Burcaw, G 1997  Introduction to Museum Work. (3rd edit) Altamira, London

MUS 602  Museum Education (Core Course: 3 Credits)

This course will promote skills in running a museum education division and designing museum education programmes for schools, life-long learning, disadvantaged communities and other sectors of society. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text

Hooper-Greenhill, E 1991  Museum and Gallery Education. Leicester University Press

MUS 603  Museum management (Core Course: 3 Credits)

Good management is the basis of a successful museum.  The course will expose students to current trends in the museum profession, including planning, funding, staffing and marketing as well as ethical issues. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text

Moore, K 1994  Museum Management. Routledge, London

MUS 604  Museum Exhibition (Core Course: 3 Credits)

Museums communicate primarily through exhibitions and this course looks at the critical role of a museum designer, display theory, the exhibition process and evaluation. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text

Belcher, M 1991  Exhibition in Museums. Routledge, London

MUS 605  Collection management (Core Course: 3 Credits)

This course is designed to give practical training in museum collection care and documentation, a key part of museum work, and address issues such as disaster management, disposal and loans. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text

Ambrose, T & Paine, C 1993  Museum Basics. ICOM, Paris

MUS 606  Material conservation (Core Course: 3 Credits)

Museum collections should be forever and so need proper care.  This course looks at caring for material (preventive conservation) and introduces remedial conservation. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text

Knell, S 1994  Care of Collections. Routledge, London

MUS 612  Material Culture and Research (Optional Course: 3 Credits)

Material culture is very much the extrasomatic extension of our physical and intellectual well-being.  This course aims to explore the nature and meaning of both objects and collections.  3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text:

Pearce, S 1989  Museum studies in material culture.  Leicester University Press

MUS 614  African Art (Optional Course: 3 Credits)

This course is intended to give an understanding of the theoretical aspects of visual art and design, as well as the commercial aspect of art, including authenticity and the issue of value.  It covers rock art as well as portable art and crafts. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text:

Duncan, C 1995  Civilising Rituals: Inside Public Art Museums.  Routledge: London

MUS 616  The Natural Sciences and Museums (Optional Course: 3 Credits)

This course will introduce students to managing natural history collections, including living specimens, and the role of museums in natural heritage management. 3 lecture hours per week. 

Prescribed text:

Nudds, J & Pettitt, C 1997 The Value and Valuation of Natural Science Collections.  Geological Society London

MUS 618  Heritage Resource Management (Optional Course: 3 Credits)

This course provides a general introduction to the philosophy, policies and practice of heritage site management.  It is designed in a way to enable students to make informed choices as to the appropriate methods of resource management. 3 lecture hours per week. 

Prescribed text:

Cleere, H 1989  Archaeological heritage management in the modern world.  Unwin Hyman: London

MUS 620  African Landscapes - Cultural and Natural (Optional Course: 3 Credits)

Africa has great variety of environments and even greater diversity of human societies. Taking an ecological perspective, this course will explore the range of human cultural expression throughout the continent, but focus on human evolution up until about 2000BP. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text:

Grove, A 1989  The changing geography of Africa.  Oxford University Press

MUS 622  African Civilisations and Societies (Optional Course: 3 Credits)

The course will cover the development of early societies in Africa, but concentrate on growth of farming and especially development of states from Ancient Egypt through the forest kingdoms of W. & C. Africa to the savannah states of E. & S. Africa, with emphasis on material culture. 3 lecture hours per week.

Prescribed text:

Shillington, K 1995  History of Africa.  Macmillan: London

MUS701 Dissertation (Core Course: 18 Credits)

Research is on a museum or heritage-related subject of the student's own choice, made with the approval of the department. The student submits a proposal in the second semester before conducting the research in the end-of-year break and following semesters.