Request for a New Course in Anthropology/Museum Studies
This course fills a critical gap in the current course offerings in Museum Studies within the
Department of Anthropology. It is geared to students from all disciplines on campus that deal with
collections management of any type. A basic knowledge of artifact and collections’ conservation is
required of any professional dealing with museums, archaeological and historic sites, research
collections including biological, geological, or botanical specimens, and libraries.
ANTHR 415/515: Introduction to Museum and Archaeological Site Conservation
-3 credit hours
-prerequisite: ANTHR 311
-elective for undergraduate students in Anthropology/Archaeology
-one of two courses offered as a choice option for the undergraduate Museum Minor
-515 an elective at the graduate level for the Museum Certificate
Course Description
Museums are tasked with five major responsibilities. These include: 1) Collect Responsibly;
2) Exhibit Profoundly; 3) Research Profusely; 4) Educate Broadly; and, 5) Store, Protect, and
Conserve Diligently. ANTHR 414/515 is a general introduction to the practices and theories of
museum artifact and collections conservation, as well as the basic principles of artifact and regional
conservation for cultural heritage sites. Participants will learn about the compositional components
of artifacts in museum collections with relation to their preservation, environmental needs in
storage, exhibition, and research venues. Course lectures and student projects will utilize artifacts
from the collections of the MPC (or other approved museum collection on BYU campus) as foci,
thus allowing students hands-on practical experience in the basic handling and preservation of
collections. This course will also address the special needs of artifact conservation from
archaeological contexts and field excavation conditions, as well as planning for the conservation of
archaeological and historic sites as integrated problems in conservation. The conservation of
archaeological and historic buildings will also be discussed. Students will visit major conservation
laboratories of significant museums that run conservation graduate programs including the Getty
Museums in Malibu, California. Participants will also learn about the qualifications required to
become a professional conservator.
Course Level Learning Outcomes.
By the end of this course:
1. Students will be able to recognize the basic chemical components and characteristics of artifacts
(from simple to compound examples) with relation to their conservation needs in storage,
exhibition and research venues.
2. Students will be able to recognize and mitigate potential negative interactions of specific
artifacts with their storage, exhibition, and research venues and suggest correct solutions
to ongoing or potential conservation problems for each example.
3. Students will be able to complete a conditions report for any type of simple or complex artifact
presented to them for analysis.
4. Students will be able to recognize and discuss the potential dangers to artifacts and monuments
retrieved from archaeological site contexts and propose correct measures to be taken to
mitigate these dangers.
5. Students will be able to develop a complete conservation plan for an entire collection or cultural
heritage site as a final course project. This will require them to evaluate a museum’s
conservation status, protocols, challenges, and needed improvements with relation to
conservation concerns.
Links to Program-Level Outcomes
This course aligns with the following program-level learning outcomes:
-Students will gain professional level competency in the museum fields through real-life
experiences in museum registration and collections management systems, museum conservation,
exhibition research, development, and installation, and museum education and outreach. High skill
levels in these areas will prepare students to be marketable in museum and collections employment
venues.
-Students will gain professional level experience in writing in museum contexts and will be able to
produce research and exhibition panels, condition reports, grant proposals, professional museum
evaluations, and public education and museum related materials.
-Students will gain a professional level competency in overall museum and collections theory as
well as museum education theories and practices including museum program evaluation techniques.
-Students will be able to explore and obtain an assessment of their individual aptitudes for the
collections-oriented museum disciplines, as well as a clear idea of their career goals within the
multi-faceted world of museum related professions.