The Archives and Cultural Heritage (ARCH) track prepares students for careers managing primary source materials in archives, special collections, and cultural heritage institutions. Grounded in archival theory and practice, the curriculum supports both traditional and emerging approaches to preserving and providing access to unique collections—including born-digital resources—within today’s evolving digital information environment. Students build core competencies in archival management, digital curation, preservation, and metadata, then tailor electives toward career paths in religious archives, cultural heritage law and policy, rare books and special collections, museum librarianship, or digital archives. CUA’s location in Washington, D.C. provides unparalleled access to archival and cultural heritage institutions for site visits, practicums, and professional engagement.

Artificial intelligence, born-digital collections, and evolving heritage policy are transforming the archival profession. Organizations including SAA, the International Council on Archives, and UNESCO have identified AI literacy, archival ethics, and born-digital competencies as urgent priorities for the next generation of professionals. Rather than treating these as isolated topics, the ARCH curriculum integrates them across existing courses, ensuring students encounter questions of technology, ethics, and policy throughout their program.

Course Selection 

Required Courses (4 courses: 12 credits)

• LSC 551: Organization of Information
• LSC 553: Information Organizations and Communities
• LSC 555: Information Systems in Libraries and Information Centers
• LSC 557: The Information Professions in Society

Recommended Electives: 

• LSC 843: Public Programs, Outreach and Digital Exhibits in Libraries, Archives, and Museums

Other Electives:

• LSC 641: Collection Development and Management

• LSC 645: History of the Book
• LSC 647: Preservation
• LSC 677: History and Theory of Cultural Heritage Institutions
• LSC 747: Special Collections
• LSC 831: Legislating Heritage: Domestic Law and International Conventions
• LSC 834: Art and Museum Librarianship
• LSC 845: Religious Archives
• LSC 879: Visions of Italy (the Rome Program)
• LSC 883: Introduction to Cultural Heritage Studies
• LSC 884: Copyright & Licensing Institute

It is strongly recommended that students consult with their advisor to plan a course of study that best meets their personal and professional goals. Students interested in pursuing SAA’s Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) certificate or the Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA) examination should discuss course sequencing with their advisor early in their program.

LSC 646, 612, 615, 648, 843, 677, 647, and 845 have been preapproved by the Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA) as courses qualifying students to apply to take the Academy of Certified Archivists Certification Examination. For more information about the ACA Graduate Course Preapproval Program and the Preapproved Course List, please see: https://www.certifiedarchivists.org/certification

Courses mapped to the areas of the Department of Information Sciences Professional Competencies

ARCH CWP (Coursework Plan)

Select Publications of Interest 

• The Moving Image

Select Organizations of Interest

• American Antiquarian Society
• Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS)
• Association of College Research Libraries/American Library Association (ACRL)
• Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)
• Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC)
• Museums and the Web
• Rare Books, Manuscripts and Special Collections/American Library Association (RBMS)
• Society of American Archivists (SAA)