Museum Studies_Bachelor of Arts
Department of Art and Design
The University of Southern Mississippi

Museum of Art

The following statistics reflect the present state of museums in the United States in general and the southeastern region in particular:

• Since 1970, the number of museums in the United States has increased by 505; there are currently 8,200 museums nationally.
• Total annual visits to museums nationwide number 660 million. That is now more than the combined number of people attending professional baseball, basketball, football and hockey games.

• Although there are 1,700 museums in the southeastern United States, the bachelor of arts in museum studies is offered by only four institutions of higher learning in the region, including Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Tusculum College, Rhodes College and Virginia Commonwealth University. Only the latter two institutions offer programs based in the study of art.

• Only 20 universities in the nation grant the B.A. in museum studies. Because of this lack of program offerings, approximately 85% of museum staff members in the Southeast have degrees from fields outside museum studies.

The University of Southern Mississippi is one of the few institutions of higher learning in the southern region of the United States granting a bachelor of arts in museum studies.

The many museums of southern Mississippi--the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, the Meridian Museum of Art, the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, the Dusti Bonge Foundation, the George Ohr Arts and Cultural Center and numerous other regional art galleries--are undergoing major growth and have a need for trained professionals to direct this growth in a manner consistent with the finest museums in the nation.

The major in museum studies is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and provides USM students with specialized training taught by museum and gallery professionals--an opportunity offered to few undergraduate students in the nation.The first two years of the curriculum emphasize the general education curriculum of the university, the acquisition of basic studio art design skills and a familiarity with art materials, an introduction into the field of museum studies, and a survey of the history of art. During the junior and senior years, students are expected to successfully complete at least two years of a foreign language (preferably French or German), at least six courses in art history, and five courses devoted specifically to museum studies.

Although the museum studies major is firmly grounded in art history, the required museum studies courses not only familiarize the student with the specialized operations of an art museum but with the care, handling and scholarly analysis of works of art. Because special emphasis is placed on problems arising from art objects themselves, rather than from secondary library study, The University of Southern Mississippi has established a special working relationship with the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel, Mississippi, the state's oldest accredited art museum.

In addition, the USM Museum of Art's permanent collection is one of the finest in Mississippi. Many of the best-known artists to have worked or lived in Mississippi are in the collection, including Richmond Barthe, Walter Anderson and Marie Hull.

A print collection on extended loan to the museum provides students with the opportunity to study a master print collection that spans the history of the art from the late Renaissance through the early 20th-century. Selections from the collection are on exhibit in the museum. Exhibitions highlighting work from the museum's collection have included the prints of such masters as Andrea Mantegna, Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, Whistler, Daumier and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Advanced students in museum studies may enroll in a variety of practica and internships that allow them to work with museum professionals. The unique blend of the practical, historical and the theoretical inherent in the museum studies program provides students with a breadth of experience not normally acquired at the undergraduate level, preparing Southern Miss graduates to enter not only graduate study in the fields of art history and museology, but to assume administrative, technical and junior curator positions in museums of art.

Indeed, the type of career opportunities available to trained individuals is more varied than ever before and includes art gallery manager, art librarian, art slide librarian, museum administrator, art teacher, museum registrar, museum publicist, historic preservation specialist, museum educator, cultural officer with the Foreign Service and art critic.

For more information on the bachelor of arts in Museum Studies at Southern Miss, contact:

Department of Art and Design
The University of Southern Mississippi
118 College Drive #5033
Hattiesburg, MS 39406
Telephone (601) 266-5200
E-mail: visual.arts@usm.edu

The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Art and Design is a fully accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

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