Program faculty offer core courses that expand upon the methodology of the connoisseurship courses. All Fellows take Introduction to American Material Culture in the fall semester of their first year. In this course they work with collection objects, primary documents, and important theoretical and secondary literature.

In January of the first year, they study English Design History, a course that involves field-based learning in England or the United States. It covers material from the 16th to the 20th centuries and helps Fellows connect broad currents of European and American design to an Atlantic World context.

Finally, all Fellows guide in the Museum's period rooms at least three days each semester. This experience sharpens their speaking skills, helps them learn the collections, and encourages them to consider varying audiences and approaches to interpretation. Students may not graduate until they complete their guiding requirement.