See the latest post from the Empathetic Museum on steps for these troubled times.
See timely advice from The Empathetic Museum: How to Be an Empathetic Museum in these Troubled Times”
Empathy: Intangible yet Powerful
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…
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…
The Naive* Display of Cultural Symbols
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…
An Update on The Empathetic Museum
As many of you know I’ve been thinking and writing about the empathetic museum for some years now. 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. Prior to that we had led…
The Empathetic Museum and The Empathy of Librarians
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…
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. 1942. I’m not sure why this phrase “Everything that rises…
We Can’t Outsource Empathy Part II: The Qualities of an Empathetic Museum
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
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. 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?…
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. But we’ve also been talking about making our conversations more public. Rebecca’s recent thoughtful post, What Does a Museum Educator Do? (And Do We Need Them?) offers, I…