Open Forum

Passcode: C7FWLs#r

Please be sure to join Museums and Change on 9/28 when Dorothy Kosinsky and Elif Gokcigdem will present on The Empathetic Museum

The Empathetic Museum

Is empathy the key to the museum's potential in addressing the most urgent issues of our times including climate degradation, racial prejudice and  socio-economic injustice? Is empathy the critical catalyst by which the museum can make this work authentic and impactful? How do we design for empathy, what are the skills, and the potential benefits of a unifying, compassionate worldview and action plan? 

Dorothy Kosinski, PhD is a museum leader, art historian and scholar. She is Director Emerita of The Phillips Collection having served for almost 15 years as Director and CEO where she championed innovative academic, artistic and community partnerships, and prioritized the diversification of the museum's collection, programming, staffing and leadership.  She is a seasoned curator and prolific author specializing in modern and contemporary art. Her essay "Purpose is the  Only thing" was included in Change is Required, Preparing for the Post-Pandemic Museum, 2022, exploring strategies for innovative and socially impactful museum practice.

Elif M. Gokcigdem, PhD (she/her) is the founding president of ONE - Organization of Networks for Empathy, and the editor of: Fostering Empathy Through Museums and Designing for Empathy: Perspectives on the Museum Experience . She developed Designing for Empathy® as an intellectual framework, and ONE as an international platform for multidisciplinary, multisector, and multicultural collaborations to deepen our understanding of empathy, and what it means for the wellbeing of the whole -all of humanity, and our planet. Next month she hosts the 6th Annual Designing for Empathy Summit & Workshops in NYC.