Academic Articles
Below are six Academic articles that speak to inclusive museum practice. These articles examine themes related to social inclusion, the museum’s role in social justice work, museums and healthcare, and caring for aging populations, and accessibility. The last two are from recent University of Oregon graduates, Rosemary Oakman and Rachel Schwartzman. These articles investigate the work local museums are doing to create inclusive environments, Rosemary Oakman’s article was a collaborative interview with Doug Blandy and examined a program she helped implement at the JSMA, Reflections, and Connection. Reflections and connections brought Alzheimer’s Patients to tour the gallery exhibits and engage in memory work. The Article by Rachel Schwartzman examines sensory-sensitive programming at the Eugene Science Center.
Shepherd. (2009). Inclusion and museums: developing inclusive practice. British Journal of Special Education, 36(3), 140–146. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8578.2009.00437.x
Abstract
Recent policy on inclusion has had an impact on the development of museum galleries and related educational provision. Museums are used as learning organizations and, as such, need to consider how to create an inclusive environment. However, inclusive provision for people with learning difficulties in museums tends to be isolated and small scale, lacking the formal structure found within schools. While much can be learnt from the development and evaluation of practice in schools, there is little research or published literature that explores the inclusion of people with learning difficulties in museums. This article, by Hannah Shepherd, Exhibition Co-ordinator at Freeman College in Sheffield, analyses an example of a specific exhibit within a gallery development. This example reflects an approach that uses guidance from the literature to create a more inclusive experience for visitors, particularly those with learning difficulties. A case is made for the use of consultation and partnership to develop inclusive museum provision.
Kinsley. (2016). Inclusion in museums: a matter of social justice. Museum Management and Curatorship (1990), 31(5), 474–490. https://doi.org/10.1080/09647775.2016.1211960
Abstract
Calls for greater inclusion in US museums have recently become hard to ignore. The intersection of inclusion and museums, however, has longer roots and has primarily been understood as a means for museums to ensure and increase public access to their activities and services. Despite the field’s long-standing attention to inclusion, visitor and employee demographic studies do not indicate that US museums’ publicness significantly extends beyond a privileged subset of the population. In this paper, I argue that inclusion in museums is a matter of social justice. Using Nancy Fraser’s two-dimensional theory of social justice, I argue that inclusion efforts in museums have thus far been unsuccessful because there has been (1) insufficient attention to demands of recognition and (2) insufficient coordination of redistribution and recognition endeavors. Developing a proper appreciation of the justice-structured aspect of inclusion is more likely to produce the results to which many museum professionals aspire.
Coffee. (2008). Cultural inclusion, exclusion and the formative roles of museums. Museum Management and Curatorship (1990), 23(3), 261–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/09647770802234078
Abstract
Very diverse cultural practices develop within sufficiently large polities, in response to, and contributing to, a matrix of social relationships. Museums play a formative role in defining and reproducing those relationships through their policies and narrative practices. As importantly, how museums are construed, who uses them, and how they use them, are also defined within this web of relationships. Discussions of audience inclusion and exclusion should thus be grounded in an analysis of the complex socio-cultural roles that museums play, and specifically in regard to the user’s search for shared narrative.
Taylor. (2017). From Systemic Exclusion to Systemic Inclusion: A Critical Look at Museums. Journal of Museum Education, 42(2), 155–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/10598650.2017.1305864
Abstract
Workplace inclusion is a hot topic, defined as an organizational environment where everyone can reach his or her full potential. Much has been written over the last decade or so and themes of various annual conferences across the country have emphasized the need for socially conscious museums. Creating inclusive work environments and work practices are crucial to move the museum field forward. I argue that a focus on workplace inclusion places an emphasis on developing staff that have the knowledge, capabilities, and skillsets to be inclusive within daily work activities. Organization development, a practice that utilizes systems thinking to create change within organizations, can help institutions to build the capacity to become more agile, learning organizations. Adult learning theory, applied across the system, provides a framework for staff to learn how to be more inclusive. This article examines what we mean by inclusion, why it matters, and how a critical approach to organizational theory might help us better understand how to prioritize inclusion in our everyday workplace practices. Drawing on specific examples from the Minnesota Historical Society, I show how a systems approach to thinking about inclusion and the Andragogical Model can help museums build a more inclusive staff.
Schwartzman, & Knowles, C. (2022). Expanding Accessibility: Sensory Sensitive Programming for Museums. Curator (New York, N.Y.), 65(1), 95–116. https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.12452
Abstract
Museums in the US have a responsibility to provide accessible facilities stipulated by the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Unfortunately, programming adjustments beyond physical accessibility is generally an emerging consideration or only implemented in large, established institutions. Although some museums have implemented disability‐specific programming, focusing on more universal challenges of access (e.g., sensory needs) can increase accessibility in a museum of any size and budget. The following manuscript presents an example of a small science museum in a mid‐size city and the development and implementation process of innovative sensory‐sensitive programming for community members with disabilities and their families. By addressing a common characteristic that spans across different disabilities, the Sensory Sensitive Program (SSP) was successfully implemented and attended by a diverse array of community members. Feedback from patrons attending the pilot event is reported and used to inform the iterative development process for the program. Considerations for future implementation of SSP are provided.
Oakman, R., Blandy, D., 2021. “I See History and the Future”: Memory Loss, Art Education, and Online Learning. Art Education 74, 13–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2021.1905437
Abstract
Rosemarie Oakman: Experiencing Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or other forms of memory loss can be stigmatizing, isolating, and disempowering. The Moon is a collaborative poem by five people experiencing mild to moderate memory loss and their care partners (spouses, friends, home health aides, etc.), participating in Reflection and Connections at the University of Oregon (UO) Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) during the spring term in 2020. Collaborative creativity is not atypical to Reflections and Connections. What is atypical is that the poem was created over Zoom instead of face‐to‐face within the museum. Reflections and Connections, like all educational offerings at the UO, moved online with just over a week’s notice. Those of us associated with Reflections and Connections, recognizing the importance of this program to the social well‐being of those participating, decided to maintain the program by offering it online.