The Williamsburg Collegiate Program in Early American History, Material Culture, and Museum Studies

Spend the 2008-2009 academic year at the College of William and Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation studying early American History, Material Culture, and the purpose and operation of museums. To receive a brochure by mail, contact us by email or by telephone at 757-221-7652.

Sponsored by the National Institute of American History and Democracy, a joint project of the College of William and Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, The Williamsburg Collegiate Program in Early American History, Material Culture, and Museum Studies provides an interdisciplinary approach to early America, material culture, and the purpose and operation of museums.

The Collegiate Program began in the fall of 2002 as an experimental pilot project with only William and Mary students, but in the fall of 2005, the program was opened to students from other colleges and universities who would like to study in Williamsburg for a year.

Available to undergraduates in any major, as well as to graduate and professional students, the program provides a thorough grounding in the ways in which scholars from many disciplines study early America and material culture, and the equally diverse ways in which they disseminate the findings to public and academic audiences through media as diverse as print, film, exhibitions, and museum interpretations. The National Institute of American History and Democracy will award a certificate upon completion of all program requirements. 

Williamsburg as a Research Center

The College of William and Mary has a strong national reputation for the study of early America in all its dimensions, with distinguished faculty in History, American Studies, and Anthropology. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is the largest outdoor history museum in the United States and possesses one of the world's finest collections of early American objects. Its curators, historians, archaeologists, and interpreters have wide-ranging interests and have a deep commitment to public education. A number of members in the research and curatorial departments command national attention in their fields and provide scholarly knowledge in specialties such as architectural history, museum education, and decorative arts. The Collegiate Program takes advantage of the strengths of both parent institutions to provide a year-long educational experience that has no equal at any other university or historical site.

next: Curriculum