Museum Studies Program

Museum studies students at Luther College have interned at a wide variety of regional and national museums, archives, and historical societies. A significant requirement of the museum studies minor, the internship course provides students the opportunity to work with museum professionals to further explore potential career pathways in archives, museums, and cultural centers.

Students can explore areas of museum education, curation and exhibition support, collections management, as well as business and communication. A variety of student internship projects span local opportunities on campus and those at regional and national museums.

Megan Gmitro

When: Summer 2017
Where: Isthmian Archaeological Museum, Corinth, Greece
Major: History

Megan interned at the Isthmian Archaeological Museum in Corinth, Greece. There, she cleaned, labeled, and bagged pottery sherds discovered at the Roman port of Kenchreai to be drawn, photographed, and cataloged by the museum. Megan also worked at the Cummer Tomb clearing away overgrown vegetation and dirt. Additionally, Megan worked at the remains of a Roman Basilica where she cleared more vegetation and unearthed tile and Mosaic flooring. This internship taught Megan how to handle, clean, and catalog artifacts. This experience also gave her an understanding of learning about the past based upon what others have left behind. The most rewarding part of her internship was being able to interact with history outside of a classroom setting. Megan was able to physically see where people used to live and interact and use what they left behind as a different approach to studying the past.

Miranda Joslin

When: Spring 2016
Where: The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum
Major: Art with minors in Spanish and Museum Studies

The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the immigrant story through their objects, traditions, and artwork. For her internship, Miranda worked with the museum’s Chief Curator to update the Fine Art Collection’s records and gain notoriety for the collection on a national level. Specifically, she worked with the Smithsonian Database of American Painting and Sculpture to get 452 new pieces from 96 different artists registered for public use and study. Not only was it exciting to get to work so closely with the collection pieces (both through their records and physically handling the works), but Miranda enjoyed helping the collection grow and bringing attention to the hidden treasures of this “small-town” museum.

Steffenee Voigt

When: Summer 2016
Where: The Porter House Museum
Major: Art with minors in Education and Museum Studies

The Porter House Museum preserves and interprets its structures, grounds, and collections to inspire diverse audiences to share in the educational and recreational benefits of learning about Adelbert Field Porter and Grace Young Porter in the context of Winneshiek County history and Mr. Porter’s love of the natural environment. During Steffenee’s internship she worked as a docent giving tours of the museum. In addition, she created various museum education resources for the Porter House such as a worksheet for children and a visual aid demonstrating the butterfly mounting process that Bert Porter would have used. This was an exciting experience that helped Steffenee to develop skills in creating fun and engaging educational resources.

Annika Vande Krol graduated with a Nordic studies major and a minor in museum studies. She conducted summer research on painter Herbjørn Gausta, who attended Luther College in 1872. He painted portraits of influential people, genre scenes, and landscapes in the Midwest and Norway.

Vande Krol spent two summers researching Gausta in an effort to find previously unknown works.

Learn about this student-faculty research collaboration

Academic Semester Opportunities

Luther College believes in the transformational experience of global learning. Museum studies-focused opportunities are available through several programs, including the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) and other organizations that offer courses, unique professional and cultural experiences, and internship opportunities.

Many of our students have found internships with accredited cultural institutions such as the National Archives, the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian, and other cultural and heritage institutions through participation in programs like Luther’s Washington Semester.

Museum Studies students are encouraged to advantage of semester study away programs, such as:

• Lutheran College Washington Semester Program
• Chicago Program: Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Urban Studies (ACM)
• Florence: Arts, Humanities, and Culture (ACM)

J-Term Opportunities

Students are also encouraged to participate in January Term courses that further explore museum topics both locally and worldwide.