Creating a Museum and Heritage Studies Minor
FAIN: AB-258958-18
Albany State University (Albany, GA 31705-2796)
Charles R. Williams (Project Director: June 2017 to October 2022)
Faculty development workshops leading to the establishment of a Museum and
Heritage Studies Minor at Albany State University.
The Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Albany State University seeks funding for the development of a multi-disciplinary minor in Museum Studies. The minor serves the common good by promoting diversification of museum fields and providing training for staff and trustees of regional organizations through open workshops with guest lecturers. Additionally, the program has the potential to supplement the regional workforce with student interns during field studies experiences. ASU is the largest HBCU in the state and geographically located to extend these opportunities to a more diverse and underserved population. The need for this initiative is two-fold: to prepare African-American students for fields involving museology, preservation and archiving, and to create career paths for humanities majors while extending opportunities in the humanities to students working in other areas of study. Finally, the Museum Studies minor is part of a larger, ongoing objective to promote the holdings of the university and the cultural institutions in the area.