Empathy: Intangible yet Powerful

  Is learning tangible or intangible?슠 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.슠 We finally came up with the idea that learning is intangible, but it can be measured–there…

The “Overlooked” Initiative: Lessons in Empathy from the New York Times

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 15 accomplished…

An Update on The Empathetic Museum

As many of you know Ive been thinking and writing about the empathetic museum for some years now.슠 The last time I wrote an update on our project was in summer 2015 after we had presented our first official session at the American Alliance of Museums conference in Atlanta.슠 Prior to that we had led…

Everything that rises must converge: Reflections on AAM2015

Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.슠 1942.   Im not sure why this phrase Everything that rises…

We Can’t Outsource Empathy

Participants at Town Hall meeting held in August 2014 by Missouri History Museum soon after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. 슠Photo: Emanuele Berry|St. Louis Public Radio   How many of you were aware that, earlier this year, the AAM (American Alliance of Museums) Board 슠published a new슠policy statement on diversity and inclusion?…

The Changing Role of Museum Educators: A Conversation

For some months now museum educator, consultant, and blogger Rebecca Herz and I have been exchanging thoughts on the roles and future of museum educators, mostly by email.슠 But weve also been talking about making our conversations more public.슠 Rebeccas recent thoughtful post, What Does a Museum Educator Do? (And Do We Need Them?)슠offers, I…