Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies

2025 Deakin University Handbook

Year	2025 course information
Award granted	Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies
Deakin course code	A668
Faculty	Faculty of Arts and Education
Campus	Offered at Burwood (Melbourne)
Online	Yes
Duration	1 year full-time or part-time equivalent
Course Map - enrolment planning tool	This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2025. Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central.
CRICOS course code	012804J Burwood (Melbourne)
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 will 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 will 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 will 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 will 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.

Pathways

This course can be a pathway to:

Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (A768)

Alternative exits

Graduate Certificate of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (A568)

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 at Faculty Board 2015

Course rules

To complete the Graduate Diploma of Museum Studies students must pass 8 credit points and meet the following course rules to be eligible to graduate:

DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in their first study period
4 credit points of core units
4 credit points of course electives

Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements. See the enrolment codes and terminology to help make sense of the University’s vocabulary.

Course structure

Core Units

AIM719

Cultural Heritage and Museum Practice

AIM722

Managing Collections

AIM727

Developing Exhibitions

AIM736

Museums, Heritage and Society

DAI001

Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit)

Course Electives

AIM708

World Heritage

AIM709

Intangible Cultural Heritage

AIM715

Digital Interpretation

AIM733

Applied Heritage Project

APE700

Internship A

ALC703

Digital Curation in the Age of AI

MIS798

Project Management

MMM796

Managing Arts in Community Settings

Students may also complete 1 elective from any equivalent postgraduate course at Deakin University with the agreement of the course director.

Work experience

Elective units may provide the opportunity for Work Integrated Learning experiences.

Course duration

Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as failing of units or accessing or completing placements.

Further information

Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.

Contact Student Central

Other learning experiences

There are options for WIL and study tours across many of the SHSS courses.

Research and research-related study

Independent research components are embedded across a number of units.

Fees and charges

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

Estimate your fees

For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.