Program Introduction

UNCG students earn a Master’s degree in History with a concentration in Museum Studies. Our mission is to unearth history while building community. Every semester students complete collaborative projects, start‐to‐ finish, that make a difference in our region—museum exhibitions, public programs, interpretive websites, collections management plans, etc. In this way, we bridge theory and practice while making a positive impact in our world. In 2019, the program received an AASLH Award of Excellence for its exhibition Etched in Stone? (https://news.uncg.edu/etched-in-stone-exhibition-national-honors/) The program has ongoing partnerships with area history organizations—the Greensboro Historical Museum, International Civil Rights Center and Museum, High Point Museum, the National Park Service, Elsewhere, NC Museum of History, and others. Students supplement a three-semester Museum Studies seminar sequence with electives, including Museum Education, Collections Management, and Digital History. Students complete public history capstones, two-semester independent-study public projects. Established in 2000, the program enrolls (and graduates) approximately 10 students each year.

Degrees Offered

  • M.A. in History

Program Strengths

  • Digital Media
  • Historical Administration
  • Historic Preservation
  • Local/Community History
  • Museum Studies
  • Oral History

Credit Hour Requirements

36

How Many Students are Admitted Annually

MA10

Financial Aid Available

-graduate assistantships (including a public history graduate assistantship and assistantships with the UNCG Libraries)
-scholarships and tuition awards, in-state & out-of-state
-Students are considered for these awards on merit basis at time of admission

Deadline To Apply

February 1

Internship Requirements

Internships are integrated into UNCG’s curriculum (3 credit hours). Students work with the Director of Public History to identify and pursue internship placements, working with institutions locally and (over the summer) across the country. Some of these opportunities are paid, while others are not.

Places Where Students Have Interned During the Past 3 Years

  • Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum
  • Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry
  • City of Greensboro Planning Department
  • Greensboro Historical Museum Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts and Culture
  • High Point Museum
  • Historic Bethabara Park
  • Holocaust Awareness and Education Museum
  • Kernersville Museum
  • NC Department of Administration
  • Nantucket Historical Association
  • Old Salem Museums and Gardens Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Job Placement Assistance

We help students find their place in an the field. We connect them to a national network of contacts and offer a series of job-preparation opportunities, including travel support to conferences, information-interviewing, résumé and cover-letter workshops, mock-interview sessions, and career forums.

Employers Who Have Hired Graduates from this Program within the Past Five Years

  • 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum
  • Albany Institute of History & Art
  • Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum
  • Colonial Williamsburg
  • Dovetail Cultural Resources Group
  • Florida Maritime Museum
  • Greensboro Children’s Museum
  • Greensboro History Museum
  • Greensboro Science Center
  • High Point Museum
  • Longyear Museum of Anthropology and Picker Art Gallery, Colgate
  • Monticello
  • Mississippi Department of Archives and History
  • Museum of the Cape Fear
  • Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
  • National Center for Civil and Human Rights
  • National Park Service
  • North Carolina African American Heritage Commission North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
  • North Carolina Museum of Art
  • North Carolina State Archives
  • President James K. Polk Historical Site
  • Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm
  • Tennessee State Library and Archives
  • Thomas Jefferson Foundation
  • The Wild Center
  • Wings over the Rockies Air and Space Museum

Degrees Offered

  • Ph.D. in History with a Certificate or Concentration in Public History