The Certificate Program in Curatorial Studies is designed to prepare graduate students for a wide array of positions in the arts—including at museums, galleries, non-profits, academia, and the private sector. This two-year curriculum is geared towards graduate students in the Art History program who are enrolled in the doctoral program, the CHAPS M.A. track, or the M.A. in Art History but can be completed by students pursuing graduate studies in any department at Rutgers. (Please note that this is not a stand-alone program. In order to pursue this Certificate, students must already be enrolled in an M.A. or Ph.D. program at Rutgers.)

With this certificate in hand, many of our students have gone on to have successful museum careers. For more information on our alumni, please see our Success Stories page.

For additional information, please contact the current Graduate Program Director.

Requirements

The Curatorial Studies certificate program is a 12-credit program comprised of four courses, distributed as follows:. 

Two Required Courses (choose two):

• 082:563 Curatorial Training Seminar (3 credits)
• 082:698 Exhibition Seminar –may be repeated if the subject is different from year to year (3 credits)
• 082:688 Topics in Contemporaneity Seminar – may be repeated if the subject is different from year to year (3 credits)

Two Elective Courses (choose two from the following list):

• Any of the required courses not previously counted
• CHAPS: Seminar in Global Cultural Heritage (3 credits)
• CHAPS: Cultural Resource Management and Global Cultural Heritage Preservation, (Global) Heritage and the Role of Museums in the 21st Century (3 credits)
• Any other CHAPS course
• Second Exhibition Seminar (3 credits) – may be taken as an Independent Study
• Second Topics in Contemporaneity Seminar (3 credits) – may be taken as an Independent Study
• Approved Art History Seminar – the paper topic must relate to exhibition history or a related area and must be chosen in consultation with the instructor and the Director of Curatorial Studies (3 credits)
• Internship (3 credits) – up to 6 credits may be counted towards the certificate

Summer Internships: In the interest of encouraging pre-professional training, a summer internship may be credited towards the certificate. Students choosing this option are required to complete only 9 credits for the certificate, distributed as follows:

• Two required courses (distributed as detailed above)
• One elective (chosen from the list provided above)

Filing for the Certificate

Students who have completed all requirements for the certificate should fill out the Certificate Program Application form and obtain the signature of the Director of Curatorial Studies or the Art History Graduate Program Director.