Liberal Arts - Museum Education & Heritage Interpretation (Graduate Certificate)
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The Graduate Certificate in Museum Education and Heritage Interpretation (MEHI) is designed to meet Australia’s growing need for qualified professional educators and interpreters in a wide variety of museums and heritage sites.
The MEHI program provides a flexible pathway of professional development that will suit:
- museum professionals wanting to formalise or extend their capabilities in the field of museum learning
- pre- or in-service primary or secondary teachers wanting to engage further with museums as study sites or looking for a career change
- volunteer guides wanting to build on and formalise their workplace experience
- graduates wanting to explore this professional avenue
The professional networking available through the Australian National University gives the program an exciting national and international focus. For example, the ANU enjoys a strong collaborative relationship with the National Museums of Australia and other major cultural, collecting and heritage institutions and sites in Canberra and elsewhere. Students can also benefit from links with the Museums and Collections specialisation of the University’s Liberal Arts graduate program.
Programs available
Coursework
For the Graduate Certificate Museum and Education and Heritage Interpretation Program students must satisfy requirements in four 6-point courses:
- MUSC8012 Understanding Learning in Museums and Heritage
(online, self-paced) - MUSC8013 Museum and Heritage Education Study Tour
(Canberra, 5 days, plus online) - MUSC8004 Internship (Education specialisation)
(placement to suit student, online component) - MUSC8009 Museums and Collections Research Project
(individualised, off-campus)
All courses are available in fully flexible mode, and may also be taken individually as stand-alone components in the Graduate Studies Select program.
Flexible Learning
The program’s focus on flexible learning accommodates the needs of off-campus students, and especially working professionals, whether interstate or overseas. This flexibility occurs not only in delivery and timing but also extends to the course curriculum. Students are able to focus on their preferred age group or learning sector (e.g. early childhood education, community learning) in line with their own needs and those of the industry sector.
The MEHI program is supported by CEDAM (Centre for Educational Development and Academic Methods), which is focused on student-centred learning and reflective professional practice in higher education. These approaches, as well as the use of educational and other online technologies, will feature significantly both in course delivery and in student assessment tasks.
Why ANU?
In the last ten years, Canberra has emerged as a major cultural centre, offering rich resources for study and practice in the fields of museum and heritage studies. Innovative educational programs are being implemented daily in almost a dozen national museums in the city, with high quality public, schools and community learning programs provided to many thousands of national and international visitors.
The Study Tour, a short residential course in Canberra, will provide students with
direct access to museum learning specialists across Canberra, as well as personal experience of the diversity of museum learning programs across the full range of social history, national archives, war, political history, sports, art history, creative arts and environmental heritage. Similarly, depending on the student’s needs, interests and location, the internship program will provide students with placements at national institutions in Canberra, at state-based institutions, or with independent scholars or collections.
The MEHI program is aligned with the Institute for Professional Practice in Heritage and the Arts (IPPHA), based at ANU, which focuses on developing national and international collaborations with practicing heritage and arts professionals, cultural institutions, government agencies, private enterprises and other universities.
With satisfactory levels of achievement, from 2012 students can also choose to progress from the Graduate Certificate into a Masters program, choosing electives from a variety of related programs, such as Museums and Collections, Cultural and Environmental Heritage or Visual Culture Research.
How to apply
Applicants should apply directly to the University for entry into this program. Online applications can be completed at ANU Apply Online.
Further details on graduate study at ANU are available at Graduate Study at ANU.
Further information
Contact the Museum Education and Heritage Interpretation Coursework Coordinator
Dr Sharon Peoples
Research School of Humanities & the Arts
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
T: 02 6125 7189
E: sharon.peoples@anu.edu.au
