Harvard Extension School Announces Collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution

The Harvard Extension School’s graduate program in Museum Studies is pleased to announce a collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, D.C. that will enhance both institutions’ educational missions.

The relationship affords Harvard Extension students the chance to enroll in new courses and active learning weekends taking place onsite at the Smithsonian as well as more internship opportunities.

The course “Smithsonian and the Twenty-First Century Museum: Leadership Strategies” explores topics such as museum leadership, fundraising strategies, and attracting new audiences in the digital age. In “Smithsonian: Creative Engagement at the National Museum of Natural History,” students study “Q?rius,” a new physical space and initiative that has been designed as a means of experimenting with creative audience interaction. Students explore the process of developing a new kind of museum space and engage in creative design methodology. “Smithsonian: Collections Digitization and Digital Asset Management” addresses the start-to-end process of creating and managing digital collections and introduces students to 3D collection digitization and applications of 3D scanning technology in research and education.

Harvard Extension School’s Museum Studies program is geared toward museum practitioners working in areas such as collections management, visitor engagement and education, fundraising, and marketing and has experienced significant growth in recent years. According to a 2014 article in The Washington Post, the United States is home to more than 35,000 museums, greater than the number of Starbucks and McDonald’s locations combined. Furthermore, statistics provided by the American Alliance of Museums demonstrate that arts and cultural production constitute 3.2% of the nation’s entire economy. Museums directly contribute $21 billion to the U.S. economy and billions more through indirect spending by their visitors.

Students may register for these courses beginning on July 18, 2016.