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Tiffany Sakahar-Petersen
Norwich Online Graduate, Class of 2017
Norwich Online Graduate, Class of 2017
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Master of Arts in Museum Administration
Create a museum-worthy career.
Vessels of American history and culture, museums give us a rare and thrilling glimpse into the past. But these institutions are also businesses, requiring leaders with deep knowledge of museum studies, methods and practices and the skills to run a complex nonprofit. Combining public history and public administration into one focused program, Norwich University’s online Master of Arts in Museum Administration (MMA) prepares students for middle- and upper-level leadership roles within historical museums, societies, and similar open institutions. The program provides students with the training they need to lead and to make history accessible to a wide audience.
The Norwich MMA meets students where they are. From recent undergraduates, military veterans, and secondary school teachers to current museum professionals who want to advance their careers, the program amplifies and expands existing academic and professional strengths. Students will not only learn to describe, preserve, curate and interpret visual artifacts, written documents and material culture but also acquire skills in exhibition development and project management. They will synthesize this expertise in museum methods and practices with personnel management, marketing, fundraising, strategic planning, budgeting, grant-writing and ethics—the highest standard of preparation currently offered in an online master’s program of this kind.
And no other master’s program sets up their students for success by enabling them to research and plan the details and expectations of their internships in advance. Coursework culminates in the unique, Norwich MMA Research and Planning seminar, which prepares students to undertake a Capstone Project while completing an immersive, 300-hour internship—an essential experience before entering the museum field. Working alongside a faculty advisor, students are primed to arrive at their chosen institution and hit the ground running.
That’s because our faculty are practitioners—and leaders—in the museum field, in the United States and abroad. They have eighty years of collective real-world experience as well as the enthusiasm and networks to engage students and help them build the career they want.
Museum career opportunities are at an all-time high. Start yours with the Norwich MMA.
Degree
- Master of Arts
Concentrations
- Students take elective courses
Why Norwich?
Create a career in the museum field or advance your current career.
Prepare for leadership roles in historical museums and societies, national parks and other cultural institutions.
Learn from expert museum practitioners and leaders, who are dedicated to helping you build and shape your future in the museum field.
Acquire the skills and training to describe, preserve, curate and interpret visual artifacts, written documents and material culture.
Combine your training in museum studies with practical skills in management, marketing, fundraising, budgeting, human resources and more.
Apply to the only online master’s program that helps you research and plan for your professional internship in advance
Balance school, work and military schedules with a flexible curriculum.
Start any of four terms each year with no GRE and no application fee.
Quick Info
100%
Online
All classes taken online
24/7
Access
Access the online classroom anywhere, anytime
11.2k
Graduates
Over 11,000 previous online students
5
June
Next Start Date
8
May
Application Deadline
Accreditation & Recognition
Norwich University is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (formerly the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc.).
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Andrea Thunberg, M.S.
Assistant Director of Admissions
We're Here to Help
Andrea Thunberg, M.S.
Assistant Director of Admissions
Core Curriculum
The degree combines four seminars from the Public History concentration of the M.A. in History with two seminars from the Master of Public Administration (MPA) to create a new stand-alone master’s degree unique in Norwich University’s online offerings. The M.A. in Museum Administration degree gives students subject matter knowledge of museum functions and administrative policies. Students will be prepared to work in museum jobs such as digital exhibition, preservation, curation, cataloging, project management, and education from the Public History concentration. Students will add subject matter knowledge of leadership, management, marketing, fund-raising, strategic planning, budgeting, and grant-writing in the MPA seminars. The M.A. in Museum Administration will prepare graduates to compete for administrative and leadership positions in the museum field. The internship will entail an immersive experience and a capstone project of significant professional value. Some courses include:
HI 533 -- Museum Studies
An intensive graduate-level seminar teaching the technical skills and knowledge to work in permanent museum institutions in the service of society and its development, which acquire, conserve, research, mediate, interpret, communicate, digitize, and/or exhibit the tangible and intangible heritage in ethical and professional ways for the purposes of education, study, and enjoyment of the public.
AD 552 -- Nonprofit Administration
This course of study focuses on the administration and management of tax-exempt organizations that derive their funding and mandates from individuals, foundations, and governmental sources. Topics include the legal framework of nonprofit organizations, organizational design, fiscal management, fundraising, grants, contracts, assessment and planning. Students will study best practices for leadership and management, nonprofit governance, and the effective use of volunteers. Finally, students will review the role of technology with special attention to information integration and assurance.
HI 563 -- Internship and Capstone
In this culminating graduate-level Public History seminar, students will complete their Capstone projects during a 300-hour Internship at a museum, historical society, archive, park, library, government agency, genealogical society, or similar institution. Working as interns under the supervision of qualified staff members, students will execute their plan and apply their research at institutions previously identified and approved during HI 553. The Capstone Projects will be of sufficient quality and substance that they could be displayed to the public, used by researchers, or mounted in online exhibits.
Norwich’s online master’s courses are delivered over 11 weeks at a time, and the typical program completion time is 18 months.
Please view the course catalog for complete curriculum information.
MMA Admissions Information
Tuition & Fees
Careers & Outcomes
The museum field is broad and highly diverse, and professional opportunities are expected to increase. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for archivists, curators and other museum workers is expected to rise by 12% in the next decade (2021–2031), much faster than average. The annual mean wage for curators, for example, in museums, historical sites and similar institutions is $60,900*. The annual mean wage for the same role within the executive branch of the federal government is $88,710* (*May 2021)
Our graduates can be prepared for roles in:
- Curator
- Museum Educator
- Exhibit Designer
- Digital Storytelling
- Preservation, Restoration, and Conservation
- Project Management
- Development Officer
- Cultural Resource Specialist
- Living History Interpreter
- Community Outreach
- Historical Consultant
- Museum Leader/Supervisor
Faculty & Staff
Academic Director
David J. Ulbrich, PhD
Dr. David J. Ulbrich assumed his current role as Associate Dean of the Arts and Sciences Division in the College of Graduate and Continuing Education in August 2022. He supervises all online programs in diplomacy, international relations, criminal justice, interdisciplinary studies, strategic studies, history and military history. Ulbrich also remains Associate Professor and Program Director of Master of Arts in History and in Military History programs since 2017. He earned his doctorate in history in 2007 from Temple University where he studied with Gregory Urwin, Richard Immerman, and the late Russell Weigley.
Ulbrich previously served as an adjunct instructor, course developer, and capstone advisor for Norwich from 2007 until 2017. Ulbrich also taught at Ball State University, Ohio University, and Rogers State University. He earned his doctorate in history in 2007 from Temple University where he studied with Gregory Urwin, Richard Immerman, and the late Russell Weigley.
Ulbrich is an award-winning author, instructor, and consultant. His books include:
- As author, Preparing for Victory: Thomas Holcomb and the Making of the Modern Marine Corps, 1936-1943 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2011)
- “2012 General Wallace Greene Jr. Prize,” the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
- Honorable mention for “2012 Samuel Eliot Morison Book Award for Naval Literature,” the Naval Commandery of New York City
- As second co-author with Matthew Muehlbauer, Ways of War: American Military History from the Colonial Period to the Twenty-first Century (London: Routledge, 2014, 2nd ed., 2018; 3rd ed. forthcoming in 2024.)
- As second co-editor with Matthew Muehlbauer, The Routledge History of Global War and Society (London: Routledge, 2018).
- As second co-author with Bobby Wintermute, Race and Gender in Modern Western Warfare (Berlin: DeGruyter Oldenbourg, Press 2019)
- As author of first draft manuscript draft, Essayons: The Origins and History of the U.S. Army Engineer School (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Army University Press, 2020.)
- Guest Co-Editor, Special Issue “Preparing Military Leaders to Effectively Resolve 21st Century Security Challenges,” Journal of Peace and War Studies (Northfield, VT: Norwich University Press, 2021)
- As second co-author with Michael Lyons, World War II: A Global History, 6th ed. (Routledge, 2021)
- As third co-editor with Brian Farrell and S.R. Joey Long, Great Powers, Grand Strategy, Geopolitics, and Reordering the Asia Pacific, 1900-1954 (Berlin: DeGruyter Oldenbourg Press, forthcoming in 2022)
- Book Review Editor, U.S. Military History Review (2012-2022)
Ulbrich’s contributions to Marine Corps history were recognized in the “2012 Edwin Simmons-Henry Shaw Award” for distinguished service to the U.S. Marine Corps History Division. Ulbrich’s has published articles, reviews, or blogs in War and Society, Journal of Military History, Marine Corps History, War in History, Journal of Asian Studies, Marine Corps University Journal, Marine Corps Gazette, Rethinking History, Army History, and War on the Rocks. Two of his articles received the “Robert Debs Heinl Prize” for the outstanding article on Marine Corps life and history.
Ulbrich has lectured widely on military history at the National University of Singapore, British Library, International Committee on the History of the Second World War (China), Australian Defence Force Academy, University of London’s Institute of Historical Research, National World War II Museum, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, U.S. Army War College, U.S. Naval War College Museum, U.S. Naval Academy Museum, U.S. Marine Corps University, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ohio University’s Center for Contemporary History, Temple University’s Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy, Cantigny First Division Museum, New York Military Affairs Symposium, and ROTC Programs at University of Dayton, Ball State University, SUNY-Maritime, and Norwich University.
In addition to academic employment, Dr. Ulbrich possesses significant experience in the Public History field. In 2015-2016, he worked as a contract historian for the U.S. Army. From 2009 to 2013, he served as a civilian historian at the U.S. Army Engineer School in Missouri. From 2007 to 2009, he worked as a historical consultant and on-air segment host for the award-winning “Echoes of War: Stories from the Big Red One” PBS television documentary, and as co-director of the Cantigny First Division Oral History Project. Both these projects were generously funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
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