A UCLA partnership will offer the first doctorate degree in conservation research in North America.
The UCLA and Getty Conservation Institute’s Interdepartmental Program will offer a Master of Science and doctorate degree in conservation of material culture beginning in 2018. The IDP currently offers a Master of Arts degree in conservation of ethnographic and archaeological materials.
The doctoral program will train researchers in leadership and conservation practices, Conservation IDP Chair Ioanna Kakoulli said. Students can complete the program in about five years, according to the program proposal.
The new program will have the same admissions schedule as the IDP’s master’s degree in conservation of ethnographic and archaeological materials and admit students every two years.
Kakoulli said the new program differs from the existing master’s program because it focuses on research practices and addresses the changing field of conservation research. The master’s in CMC will not be offered as a standalone degree, Kakoulli added.
The program aims to train students interested in jobs in cultural heritage sector, including positions in government, museums, research institutions and academic institutions, according to the program proposal.
John Papadopoulos, chair of the archaeology IDP program, said he thinks the new program will help legitimize research in the fields of conservation and archaeology.
“A lot of conservators … have been looked at as technicians and not serious scholars with PhDs, and so this was a way of resolving that problem,” Papadopoulos said.