Museum Studies
Bachelor of Arts
Shape the role of the museum in society.
Museum Studies focuses on presentations of cultural memory that influence both the mass culture and the individual viewpoints that define who we are and what we value. This major offers a way to investigate these questions with a specific focus on cultural memory in a global world.
This is a new major starting Fall 2024.
Courses in the Museum Studies major reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the program. Although the primary classes are in history and art, there are also classes in business, education, communications, psychology, and environmental science giving students a range of options to discover.
Lower division courses center on the acquisition of an introductory knowledge of the history of world civilizations and the United States, as well as the fundamental skills needed to succeed in more specialized coursework. Upper division courses offer students a variety of specialized classes, seminars, and independent studies that allow more in-depth exploration of specific topics.
Faculty-led travel courses also allow students to explore histories at the sites of their creation. Over the last few years there have been travel seminars to Peru, Japan, and Germany.
As a community committed to inclusion and excellence, we encourage the capstone installation for the major to reflect the individual history of each student so that the variety of human experience can be shared.
Internships
Students have gained hands-on experience through internships at a number of locations, including:
- Colonial National Historical Park
- Getty Art Museum
- Grant Brimhall Library Radio Archives
- Museo Italo Americano
- Pleasant Valley Historical Museum & Garden
- Ramona Museum of California History
- Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum
- Smithsonian Museum of American History
- Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park
- Ventura Museum of History and Art
- William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art
Global Education Opportunities
- Intern at the Smithsonian with the Lutheran College Washington Semester (LCWS)
- Study preservation in Florence, Italy at the Studio Arts College International (SACI)
- Find all kinds of study abroad opportunities through our Office of Education Abroad
Programs
Offered as a major (BA).
Recommended Minors
Want to add even more value to your degree? Consider one of these minors to gain a unique combination of skills and perspectives.
By gaining an in-depth understanding of the design, organization and management of museums, you can create your path to becoming a curator, archivist, educator and more.
Our alumni study at:
- Harvard University
- California State University Fullerton
- California State University Northridge
- George Washington University
- San Jose State University
- The John Hopkins University
- University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
- University of Southern California (USC)
- University of Sydney (Australia)
- University of Texas
- University of Washington
Career paths:
- Restoration
- Curator
- Museum Studies
- Library Science
- Archivist
- Marketing
- Fundraising
- Dramaturgy
- Art Galleries
- Corporate Archives
- Public History
of Cal Lutheran graduates find a job or enroll in graduate school within nine months
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