Elizabeth,
This is an excellent concept for a facilitated discussion session.
As someone who has spent many hours developing conceptual frameworks, themes and sub-themes for exhibits, then also worked to develop marketing approaches for the very same exhibits, I have had broad exposure to the related issues and ongoing questions. I am a proponent of the idea that museums choose which stories to tell, and they also choose the objects that illustrate the desired/chosen concepts. Having real objects indeed is central to what makes museums special (as Steven Miller has noted), but we sometimes can and do have our own prejudices involved when adopting desired learning outcomes and the like.
When the artifact/topic/subject matter itself is already politically touchy, I believe we must avoid the temptation to take the "easy way out" by choosing a particular point of view because of political expediency and/or correctness, or the desire to somehow avoid all conflict. Instead I have attempted in my team-focused work to showcase two, three or more perspectives in these kinds of exhibitions, held together by a common theme, and then left it up to viewers to determine what they find useful or compelling to take away as a learning outcome.
My museum background includes railroads and the California Gold Rush (think big business, labor unions, government regulations, workforce safety, environmental issues, immigration, and the list of politically charged topics goes on) and more recently, military aviation (even more interesting in terms of the touchy subject matter involved, and currently rather politically charged in ever-changing and sometimes unexpected ways). I'd be delighted to participate in and/or assist with this roundtable if you think my presence could be helpful.
Paul
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Paul Hammond
Executive Director
March Field Air Museum
Riverside, California
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-21-2017 10:48 AM
From: Elizabeth Chilton
Subject: Lookiung for AAM Session Co-Facilitators - "Truth" in museums
Hello!
I am looking for co-facilitators for a roundtable session I am proposing to the 2018 AAM Conference on the subject of what we choose to present as "truth" in our museums.
For decades studies have repeatedly found that people trust museums to tell the truth. Yet, at a time when traditional media have been marginalized as sources of accurate information, can museums be far behind?
Facilitators will lead discussions and encourage participants to consider questions such as:
> Are our museums vulnerable to claims of presenting "fake" information?
> Do we deserve the public's trust?
> How is the content of our museum biased?
> What perspectives are we missing?
> Are we telling the whole truth? (Why or why not?)
> What steps can we take to ensure we do not break the trust of our visitors?
Ideal facilitators will not only have experience leading energetic, inclusive discussions, but will also have grappled with such questions in their own museums.
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Elizabeth Chilton
Manager of Curatorial Affairs
Arab American National Museum
Dearborn, MI
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