This blog contains direct quotes from websites as of 2023. Programs and policies do change, at colleges, from time to time, so please check with the colleges directly to receive any updates. These are not, necessarily, the biggest, best, or most popular programs at the college, but they are the ones that just “caught my eye” as unique, special, interesting, or just plain awesome. Enjoy!
From the Florida Southern website, 2023: “Every picture tells a story. Every object has a history. As a major in our Art History and Museum Studies program, the only one of its kind housed in a museum, you will gain the academic and technical expertise required for looking at, handling, speaking, and writing about art, artifacts, and their vital role in human culture.
“With the Polk Museum of Art as your home base, your degree in Art History and Museum Studies will take you around the globe and across millennia as you come to understand the aesthetic, cultural, political, and social significance of art, artifacts, architecture, and visual culture upon the history of our world. Delve into visual analysis, archaeology, anthropology, literary and art criticism, philosophy, and even science and the business of art, as you explore the inner workings of the museum world and experiment with research methods and conservation techniques.
“Expert Faculty: As an art history and museum studies student, you will have the unique opportunity to study — and work one-on-one — with a museum director and chief curator as your professor, advisor, and mentor, along with art and art history professors who excel in their knowledge of the field.
“Study Abroad: Immerse yourself in art history and museum studies. Visit the hubs of the art world with faculty-led study abroad trips to Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin and our Junior Journey trip to New York City.
“Practical Experience: As an art history and museum studies student, you will have opportunities to help install and manage art exhibitions both at the college's Melvin & Burks Galleries and at the Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College alongside professionals and visiting artists.
“Tailored Career Paths: Art History and Museum Studies’ multi-disciplinary nature allows you to pair it with other degree paths to meet your unique career goals. Pair art history and museum studies with a communications major or minor for a career in social media or film, or with business for a career in marketing or non-profit management.
“POLK MUSEUM OF ART AT FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE Housed inside the Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College, the Department of Art History and Museum Studies is a short walk from the main campus.
“Florida Southern College’s affiliation with the Polk Museum of Art gives students the unique opportunity to study — and work one-on-one — with a museum director and chief curator as their professor, advisor, and mentor, along with gifted professors who excel in their knowledge of the field. The Museum offers semester-long and competitive paid summer internships, which enables students to collaborate with Museum professionals on exhibition research, managing Museum collections, and assisting with gallery tours, visitor services, and camps.
“Students in the Art History and Museum Studies department are the focus of a program designed for them, centered on the history of art and their own immersion in the academic and professional applications of it.
“Internships On-Campus and Abroad: In addition to six-week paid summer internship opportunities with the Polk Museum of Art, our internship guarantee has allowed students to work at galleries and museums here and beyond including:
• The Lake Wales History
Museum
• The Dalí Museum,
St. Petersburg
• ABXY Gallery, New York
• Tally Beck Contemporary,
New York “
Springfield College is one of the featured colleges in my new book (click image for additional information):
