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The Cooperstown Graduate Program

The site of the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Cooperstown, New York.

The Cooperstown Graduate Program (also known as CGP) is a two-year graduate program in Museum Studies located in Cooperstown, New York, United States. The program offers Master’s degrees in both History and Science Museum Studies. It is affiliated with the State University of New York at Oneonta and the New York State Historical Association, and is one of only two museum studies programs in the United States located on a museum campus. The National Endowment for the Humanities deemed the Cooperstown Graduate Program to be the “premier program for the training of museum professionals in the United States.” There are currently over 900 alumni of the program who have worked in museums and related fields.

Mission and Values

The mission of the Cooperstown Graduate Program is to train “creative, entrepreneurial museum leaders committed to generating programs and services for the public good.” Their core values are integrity, diversity, service, teamwork, scholarship, and innovation.

History

The Cooperstown Graduate Program was founded in 1964 by Louis C. Jones, who was the director of the New York State Historical Association at the time. Interested in creating a program to train the next generation of museum professionals, Jones partnered with the State University of New York at Oneonta to offer a History Museum Studies program on the campus of the New York State Historical Association. He then hired folklorist Bruce Buckley as the first director of the program.

In 2011, the program moved into a newly renovated building, the only in the country which was designed specifically for a museum studies program. In 2015, the Cooperstown Graduate Program’s curriculum expanded to include a Master’s Program in Science Museum Studies.

Projects and Affiliations

CGP Community Stories

Students in the Cooperstown Graduate Program have been collecting oral histories since the program’s beginning. To this date, over 1,800 recordings have been collected and archived in the Archive of New York State Folklife and the New York State Historical Association. In 2008, the program created the CGP Community Stories website, a database which offers access to some of these oral histories. Oral histories focus on capturing all aspects of the Cooperstown community, and include topics such as farming, family, healthcare, traditions, and the environment.

Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship

In 2009, the Cooperstown Graduate Program began a collaborative program called the Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICE). CGP Visiting Professor Brian Alexander serves as the Director of the Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship. The ICE offers immersive training sessions for “mid-career museum, preservation, historic site and other arts and culture projects to introduce business applications and principles of entrepreneurial thinking with the goal of expanding vision and leadership skills.”

Degrees and Curriculum

History Museum Studies

Students in the History Museum Studies program receive a Master of Arts degree upon completion of their two years of study. They are required to take courses in history, research, and diversity. In addition to classes, students participate in projects with cultural partners, internships, and field trips to museums.

Science Museum Studies

Students in the Science Museum Studies program receive a  Master of Arts degree upon completion of their two years of study. They are required to take courses in science learning, science and society, technology, and research. They also participate in projects, internships, and field trips.

Notable Alumni

Cooperstown Graduate Program Alumni have held the following positions:

• President and CEO, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Associate Director, Museology Graduate Program at University of Washington
• Director, Winterthur Program, University of Delaware
• Curator of Paintings in the American Wing, Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Head of the Film Department, National Gallery of Art
• Manager of Teacher Programs and School Partnerships, Boston Museum of Fine Arts
• Assistant Director for Strategic Initiatives, National Museum of American History
• Senior Manager for Exhibitions, National Museum of Qatar
• Exhibition Project Manager, The Field Museum
• Content and Media Specialist, The Corning Museum of Glass
• Director, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
• Director, Texas Historical Commission
• Executive Director, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
• Executive Director, Alabama School of Fine Arts Foundation
• Director of Education, Detroit Historical Society
• Visitor Experience Department Manager, Ohio Historical Society
• Chief of Staff, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
• Programs Manager, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
• Diversity Outreach Specialist, Minnesota Historical Society
• Assistant Director for Diversity and Outreach, Historical Society of Michigan
• Curator of Interpretation and Collections, Wisconsin Historical Society
• Curator of Exhibitions, Collections, and Oral Histories, Centre d’histoire de Montreal
• Curator, California African American Museum

References

Category:Education Category:Museum Studies programs