Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies

2023 Deakin University Handbook

Note: You are seeing the 2023 view of this course information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]

Year	2023 course information
Award granted	Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies
Course Map	This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2023. This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 2 2023. Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
Campus	Offered at Burwood (Melbourne)
Online	Yes
Duration	1 year full-time or part-time equivalent
CRICOS course code	012804J Burwood (Melbourne)
Deakin course code	A668
Approval status	This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework.
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition	The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 8.

Course sub-headings

Course overview

Earn a professional qualification that allows you to work in the diverse museum sector. When you enrol in the Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies at Deakin, you’ll learn how to identify, conserve and interpret objects and collections in museums and galleries and the role of museums within society.

Do you want to play a role in how society interacts with contemporary museums?

Today’s museums are evolving. They’re designed to be more accessible and increasingly interactive. As such, they’re attracting more diverse audiences every day. The Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies is designed to provide you with the range of hands-on skills and theoretical knowledge required to work in all kinds of museums.

Some of the areas you’ll study include interpretation, collections and curatorship, cataloguing and documentation, and the ethical and legal implications of moving, acquiring or disposing of an object or collection.

You’ll also look at the role and function of exhibitions, including budgets, planning, policy and audience involvement. Be ready to take the lead in your career and run exhibitions that engage the community and are meticulously organised behind the scenes.

The core units you’ll study are built around the categories above and they include:

Cultural Heritage and Museum Practice
Managing Collections
Developing Exhibitions
Museums, Heritage and Society

Plus, you’ll have a choice of four elective units, some of which include:

World Heritage
Intangible Cultural Heritage
Digital Interpretation
Applied Heritage Project
Internship
Digital Curation

As part of your studies, you can undertake work-integrated learning through your choice of electives. The Applied Heritage Project unit is developed in consultation with industry partners and gives you an opportunity to work in a team on a specific heritage project.

If you want to develop workplace skills, gain industry knowledge and extend your professional networks you can choose to complete an internship unit where you will undertake a professional work placement within a host organisation in Australia or overseas.

Career opportunities

The Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies will give you the foundation of knowledge needed to enter the museum sector ready to thrive.

As a graduate, you may find employment in museums, heritage institutions, government agencies, private corporations, community organisations and in private practice.

Typical job titles include:

curator
heritage officer
collections manager
registrar
public programs officer
researcher
project officer.

Alternatively, completion of the course qualifies your entry into the one year *Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies. This program gives you the freedom to focus your studies on a specific area of interest, driving your career in the direction you wish to go.

For more information go to DeakinTALENT

Participation requirements

Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.

Mandatory student checks

Any unit which contains work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, Working with Children Check or other check.

Alternative exits

Graduate Certificate of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (A568)

Fees and charges

Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year, the units you choose and your study load.

Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.

Use the Fee estimator to see course and unit fees applicable to your course and type of place. Further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods is available on our Current students fees website.

Course Learning Outcomes

Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes	Course Learning Outcomes
Discipline specific knowledge and capabilities	Understand, investigate and evaluate conceptual and practical approaches to the identification, conservation, interpretation, management and use of museum objects.
Communication	Effectively communicate key theoretical and practical concerns in museum studies using oral, written, digital formats to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Digital literacy	Use a range of digital technologies and information sources relevant to the museum context to discover, select, analyse, employ, evaluate, and disseminate both technical and non-technical information.
Critical thinking	Critically analyse key concepts in the identification, conservation, interpretation, management and employ this knowledge in the museum context using objects and collections to show how these can be utilized in a variety of different situations.
Problem solving	Apply advanced theoretical and knowledge and technical skills in the identification, conservation, interpretation, management and use of objects and collections in the museum context and develop solutions to real-world and ill-defined problems or issues in professional contexts.
Self-management	Demonstrate a high level of professionalism, consistently applying professional museum standards with a high level of responsibility and accountability to colleagues and relevant stakeholders and a consistent commitment to continual professional development.
Teamwork	Work effectively and collaboratively, demonstrating advanced level of responsibility and accountability in different roles in the museum context
Global citizenship	Analyse and address museum-related issues in the domestic, regional and global context as a critically reflexive reflective practitioner, taking into consideration cultural and socio-economic diversity, social and environmental responsibility and the application of the highest ethical standards.
Approved by Faculty Board 2015