The American Studies Program at Trinity College also offers a concentration in Museums and Communities within the course of study leading to the Master of Arts degree.  Museums, archives, and the communities they serve have emerged as a major area of interest in the field of American Studies but, more importantly, in the public culture of the United States. A striking example is provided by the huge success of the Getty Center, which opened in Los Angeles on December 16, 1997. In the first three months, the center, and particularly its museum facility, attracted more than 500,000 visitors; by May, the number of visitors had passed one million, almost double the initial estimates. Similar statistics could be cited not only for "blockbuster" fine art shows, like those of Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, but for exhibitions like those on diamonds and on voodoo at the American Museum of Natural History.

These details suggest at least two things: first, Americans and visitors to this country have come to see museums not as places for a small cultural elite but as venues of mass entertainment and education. And second, museums need both larger staffs and volunteer corps and a broader understanding of their new roles in a changing cultural environment. The concentration in Museums and Communities within the American Studies Master's program at Trinity is designed to respond to those changing needs. It offers students a regular fall course called "Museums in American Culture," as well as a changing set of courses directly related to the exhibitions that are part of the rich resources of the greater Hartford area.

Master's degree students will continue to take an introductory course titled "Approaches to American Studies" and a research methods course. In addition to the courses directly related to museums and archives, students will be able to focus a thesis or an independent term project on research or other forms of work related to the concentration. They will also be able to undertake internships at museums and archives in the region.

Students wishing to specialize in the Museums and Communities concentration will be expected to take the following courses, in addition to the regular American Studies requirements:

• Museums in American Culture
• Varieties of Museum and Archive Practice (focusing on current exhibitions at Hartford area institutions).
• Internship or Research Project (at an archive, historical society, or area museum).

Students concentrating in Museums and Communities, as well as other American Studies students, may also wish to enroll in:

• Minorities and Museums
• Hartford Architecture
• Sports in American Life and Culture