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Bachelor's Degree
Applicants must have a BA, BFA, or BS (or the international equivalent) to apply from a regionally accredited college with an overall academic index (on a 4.0-point scale) of at least 2.5 and an index of 3.0 in their field of concentration. The latter figure is computed from the junior and senior years.
Required Courses
18 undergraduate semester credits in material culture-related studies
- Some examples include, but are not limited to anthropology, archaeology, art history, history, textile history, book history, museum studies, or library or information studies. Ideally three or more will be upper-level courses.
16 undergraduate science credits (4 courses)
- General Chemistry I and II (8 semester credits): 2 courses each with laboratory.
- Organic Chemistry (4 semester credits): 1 course with a laboratory.
- Survey courses for nursing, medical technology students, and other health professionals are accepted, in addition to courses designed for chemistry or biology majors.
- A fourth science course (4 semester credits). Some examples include, but are not limited to:
- Biochemistry
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Material science
- Microbiology
- Mineralogy
- Organic Chemistry II
- Quantitative Analysis
- Physical chemistry
- Physics
- Polymer science
4 courses in studio art, craft, or design
- Applicants may fulfill this requirement with either 3-credit academic courses or formal studio courses taught at museums or other community centers. These experiences can be enriched with additional hours at home or independently in a studio, as necessary and feasible. The goal for each studio art course is 72 hours of supervised or concentrated studio/at-home work. A distribution of at least one course in two-dimensional and one course in three-dimensional design is preferred; we will consider favorably different combinations of studio coursework. Some examples include, but are not limited to:
- Architectural drawing
- Bookbinding/book arts
- Ceramics
- Drawing
- Graphic design/CAD
- Metalsmithing
- Painting
- Photography
- Printmaking
- Sculpture
- Textile/fashion arts
- Videography
- Woodworking
- If selected for an interview, an art portfolio is expected to reflect this coursework experience.
Conservation and/or Collections Care Experience
Four hundred (400) hours of documented conservation experience under the supervision of a collections professional are required, which may include involvement in supervised collection care projects such as collection assessments, rehousing, and exhibition design, as well as examination and treatment of individual artifacts. Above all, applicants are expected to be thoroughly acquainted with conservation as a career option and to possess a fundamental knowledge of its philosophy, ethics, and basic working procedures.
If selected for an interview, a conservation portfolio is expected to reflect this practical experience.
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