Museums

The Smithsonian Institution (SI) has partnered with the Museum Scholarship and Material Culture (MSMC) certificate program since its inception. The SI and its museum professionals have played an invaluable part of Maryland’s MSMC certificate as committee members, hosts for student practicum projects and teachers for the “Introduction to Museum Scholarship” course.

This partnership between the Smithsonian and the University of Maryland gives MSMC students a well-rounded approach to the certificate’s three main questions:

1. How do museums function as social and historical institutions?
2. How is material culture used as evidence in museums?
3. In what ways do exhibits, collections and other museum efforts express ideas and create knowledge?

Students in the certificate program may gain access to the Smithsonian’s researchers and cultural centers in the Washington, D.C. area. Classroom discussion is paired with guest speakers, visits to exhibitions and “behind-the-scenes” work at the SI’s museums and centers.

Below is a list of museums and cultural centers in Prince George’s County, Maryland, to serve as a resource. We’ve dedicated a special page for these institutions because the University of Maryland campus is located in this community. Some of these museums have hosted students for their practicum research for the certificate and class field trips as part of the Research Seminar course.

Prince George’s County History Consortium
The consortium provides a more extensive list of cultural and natural sites of historic significance in Prince George’s County, including parks, churches and cemeteries, community centers and more.

Anacostia Trails Heritage Area (ATHA) - (Based in) Hyattsville

Belair Mansion - Bowie

Belair Stable Museum - Bowie

Billingsley House Museum - Upper Marlboro

Bowie Train Station Museum - Bowie

College Park Aviation Museum - College Park

Darnall’s Chance - Upper Marlboro

Dorsey Chapel - Glenn Dale

Fort Washington Museum & Park - Fort Washington

Gateway Arts Center - Brentwood

Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt

Greenbelt Museum - Greenbelt

Hyattsville Preservation Association - Hyattsville

Lakeland Community Heritage Project - College Park

Laurel Museum - Laurel

Marietta House Museum - Glenn Dale

Montpelier Mansion - Laurel

Mount Calvert Historical and Archaeological Park - Upper Marlboro

National Children’s Museum - National Harbor

National Colonial Farm Museum - Accokeek

National Museum of Language - College Park

Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm - Oxon Hill

Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge & National Wildlife Visitor Center - Laurel

Poplar Hill on His Lordship’s Kindness - Clinton

Prince George’s African American Museum & Cultural Center - North Brentwood

Prince George’s County Historical Society - Riverdale

Radio-Television Museum - Bowie

Riversdale (Calvert Mansion) - Riverdale

Surratt House Museum - Clinton

The Phillips Collection has partnered with the Museum Scholarship and Material Culture (MSMC) certificate since 2016 when the “Introduction to Museum Scholarship” course assisted the Phillips with redesigning an exhibit space and entranceway within the museum.  The endeavor allowed students to put classroom-based knowledge and ideas into practice.

Students in the certificate program may gain access to the Phillips’s cultural centers in the Washington, D.C. area. Classroom discussion is paired with guest speakers, visits to exhibitions and “behind-the-scenes” work at the galleries and centers.

Below is a list of museums, art galleries and other cultural resources that can be found on the University of Maryland, College Park campus. These institutions have provided  opportunities to certificate students to see and get firsthand knowledge about the practice of museum scholarship.

• The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
• David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora  
• Hornbake Library
• Stamp Gallery
• UMUC Art Gallery
• University of Maryland Art Gallery