Training

Applications Open! - Provenance Research Today: Issues, Resources, and Networks

On-Campus & Virtual Training Program

• Program Summary

  The program includes:

  • Interactive lectures and discussions with field experts including historians, provenance researchers, attorneys, and museum professionals
  • Information on archival and library resources in the United States and abroad  
  • Workshops on provenance research processes, using research resources, and writing provenance narratives
  • Legal and ethical dimensions of stewardship related to antiquities and archaeological objects, items from Native American and Indigenous communities, works from formerly colonized areas, and art stolen and sold under duress in the Nazi era
  • Art recovery from the perspective of attorneys, scholars, provenance researchers, individual claimants, and communities
  • Keynote address by Bradley Gordon, founder of Edenbridge Asia, discussing the repatriation of Cambodian cultural heritage
  • Other confirmed speakers include:
    • Joanna M. Gohmann, Associate Curator of Provenance Research & Object Histories, The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
    • Tess Davis, Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition
    • Laura Elliff Cruz, Head of Collections, Indian Arts Research Center, School for Advanced Research
    • Erica P. Jones, Senior Curator of African Arts and Manager of Curatorial Affairs
    • Judith Barr, Curatorial Assistant, Antiquities, J. Paul Getty Museum
    • Lucas da Costa, Anthropologist and Provenance Researcher, Leiden University
    • Daniel Healey, Provenance Research Specialist, Worcester Art Museum
    • Randolph J. "Randy" Deaton, Security Officer, BOM Bank, and retired FBI Special Agent and FBI Art Crime Team member
  • Certificate (on-campus) students attend a site visit at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
  • Certificate students complete written and oral assignments, using resources discussed throughout the week, culminating in a presentation at a student symposium on Friday, June 26 
• Qualifications for Certificate Program 

  • A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required. Applicants are welcome to explain equivalent experience in the application essay.  

  • We welcome applications from graduate students and emerging professionals with various backgrounds, including, but not limited to art history, museum studies, anthropology, cultural studies, history, religious studies, and library and information science.  

  • We encourage participation from minoritized communities and staff at academic museums and galleries, who are poised to help train the rising generation of museum and art market professionals. 

• Application Requirements and Timeline

  Application Requirements 

  • Complete the application form linked here. Required items include:  

  • Abbreviated CV or résumé, including relevant education and professional experience (not to exceed 2 pages)  

  • An essay addressing the following questions (in up to 1000 words): Why would you like to participate in this training program, and what do you hope to gain from it? How has your previous academic and/or work experience shaped your commitment to the ethical stewardship of objects? How do you envision applying these skills in future work positions? 

  • Transcript(s) of higher education completed or in progress thus far, or an essay explaining equivalent experience 

  • A limited number of scholarships up to $500 are available. If you do not have access to professional development funding from your employer or educational institution and would like to be considered for scholarship assistance, please include a brief statement (up to 500 words) describing your financial needs. You may include support for travel expenses to and from Denver. 

  • One recommendation form and letter of recommendation to be sent directly from the referrer to ahss.ace@du.edu with the subject line “Last Name First Name of Applicant – Reference"

  2026 Recommendation Form.docx (175.31 KB)

   

  Program Fees 

  Certificate program tuition: $995 

  The Center for Art Collection Ethics provides: 

  • Lodging in an upscale, apartment-style dormitory with single bedrooms 

  • Meals, including welcome reception and final banquet 

  • Transportation locally to and from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science 

  Students pay for travel costs to and from Denver 

   

  Application Timeline 

  Applications accepted through 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time (UTC-6) on Sunday, March 29, 2025. 

  Notifications of acceptance in mid-April. Twenty certificate students will be accepted.  

  Program dates: Arrival on campus and dorm check-in on Sunday afternoon, June 21. All-day program Monday, June 22 – Friday, June 26. Dorm check-out Saturday morning, June 27.

• Online (Non-Certificate) Attendance

  Anyone may register to attend hybrid sessions online, as a “non-certificate student,” for a modest daily fee. Session recordings will be available to all registrants until May 2027. Recordings will be available about a week after the end of the program.

  For seamless and secure program delivery, we are using the OpenWater virtual conferencing platform. 

  The program schedule and online (non-certificate) registration information will be available in March 2026. 

Apply for the Certificate Program