Is learning tangible or intangible? This question from a student in my museum learning class in India a few years ago brought me up short. Fortunaetly, my lack of a quick answer allowed for a great class discussion. We finally came up with the idea that learning is intangible, but it can be measured–there…
Yet who gets remembered — and how — inherently involves judgment. To look back at the obituary archives can, therefore, be a stark lesson in how society valued various achievements and achievers. On March 8, 2018, the New York Times published a special Sunday supplement containing the photographs and beautifully written obituaries of some…
As many of you know I often post about The Empathetic Museum (by the way, those of us working on that project now have a new website). At the AAM Conference in Washington, DC in May, I met Laura-Edythe Coleman, a follower of Empathetic Museum posts and a professional involved in both the museum and…
The second part of my guest post on the Incluseum blog looks at some specific qualities of empathetic practice and provides examples of how that practice might be carried out. If you are reading this on email, and wish to comment or subscribe, please click on Museum Commons
Participants at Town Hall meeting held in August 2014 by Missouri History Museum soon after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. Photo: Emanuele Berry|St. Louis Public Radio How many of you were aware that, earlier this year, the AAM (American Alliance of Museums) Board published a new policy statement on diversity and inclusion?…
(now the ears of my ears awake and now the eyes of my eyes are opened) –e. e. cummings Recently I have been attending an Episcopal church where there are both men and women priests. This is a new experience for one who has spent a lifetime in a church that is inclusive in many…
Racist images pervade our public spaces and mental landscape If you missed the live feed of the symposium, Mascots, Myths, Memorials, and Memory on Saturday, March 3, you can still find the agenda on the program’s Facebook page, and a number of recordings of the talks on YouTube. There is also a great summary of the day…
I’m still gathering my thoughts on the fast and furious Twitter conversation of the week of December 18, 2017, sparked by Rebecca Herz’s post, Can Museums Be Neutral? While I’m working on my response I’d like to add to the discussion by publishing the thoughts of Dan Spock (formerly Director of the Museum at the…
I know when someone that’s not you tries to tell your story, especially when you don’t look like the person who’s telling your story, they’re gonna screw it up! And the only way to have it right is to have them as closely involved as possible. Comedian and writer Aziz Ansari, Master of None I…
In a December 6, 2016 post Museum Geek blogger Suse Cairns asked this question: Can institutions be empathetic? My EM colleagues and I have been discussing the many thoughtful questions Suse has raised. Following is our response. We believe that it is possible for institutions such as museums to be empathetic, and below we outline…