The Museum Education Program was established in 1974 - the first program of its kind offered in the United States. Developed under the leadership of Marcella Brenner, Professor Emeritus, and Carol B. Stapp, Ph.D., Director, in partnership with the museum, library, education, and social service communities, it has a very structured and responsive curriculum that allows each class (usually 15-20 students) to graduate in 13 months with a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.). Despite the intensity of this relatively short, full-time program, the MEP provides space and direction for students to customize their learning based on progressively evolving professional goals and interests. Perhaps the greatest strength of MEP--made possible by experienced faculty, committed alumni, and direct contact with leaders in the museum field--is the precise balance of education and museum theory with practical applications.

Whether in the classroom or at our internship sites, we came to understand that the work of emerging professionals should be grounded in reflective practice. From the onset, students are prompted to investigate and question the complexities of the MEP mantra: accessibility, accountability, and advocacy. In the first summer semester, the questions we learned to ask of ourselves and of each other informed the duration of the core courses and follow us as we embark in the field. The curriculum is crafted to impart the theory, methodology, and hands-on experience necessary to maximize the real-life impact that educators can make in the museum field. In the fall semester, we worked directly with particular audiences (e.g., ESOL students, seniors, young artists, working adults) to develop and implement multi-part museum programs tailored to their needs and goals. We also worked with small private museums to propose strategies for targeted visitor outreach. The lessons we learned from our fall projects were applied to our internships at local and national museums during the spring semester (i.e., United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, National Museum of American History, International Spy Museum). Each of our projects cultivated practical skills in delivering programs and developing museum resources that respond to the diverse needs of present and future museum visitors. Our final summer semester maintained our focus on facilitating meaningful encounters between the visitor and the museum with a museum evaluation course that provided practical evaluation skills, as well as an understanding of the implications of visitor studies.