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The Future of Museums: Mausoleums or Houses of Curiosity?
The following essay by Gregory Rodriguez introduces the Discussion Guide for the second annual CFM lecture, to be webcast next Wednesday, Jan. 27 2–3 p.m. ET. Register for the free webcast. The words “museum” and … -
From Theory to Practice: Applying Futures Studies
A guest post contributed by Joe Cavanaugh, museum director of the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas. Joe was one of Elizabeth Merritt’s classmates in the University of Houston Future Studies Program’s certificate … -
Why Diversity? One Answer
Today’s guest post is by Day Al-Mohamed, Senior Policy Advisor at the U.S. Department of Labor and member of the CFM Council. Day shares some thoughts in response to my post about the lecture by Gregory Rodriguez, which will be … -
A Side Note on Future Financial Models
The Indianapolis Children’s Museum has announced a deal with Procter & Gamble declaring “Swiffer Dusters” to be the official cleaning product of the museum. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has, in the past, struck similar … -
Representation versus Individuality: A Museum Koan
I am still processing the thought-grenades Gregory Rodriguez lobbed at the audience during the CFM lecture last month. You’ll have the chance to grapple with them yourselves during the webcast January 27th, but I want to share some of my … -
Reminder on Research Opportunity!
I recently posted about a free research opportunity being offered by Reach Advisors. They are inviting museums to apply to participate in a study of the fundamental motivations of the core visitors to museums. I think the results will be … -
Challenging Assumptions–Why Not Sell the Collections?
Last week I joined Gregory Rodriguez, Lori Fogarty and Jim DeMersman on air for KQED’s Forum in San Francisco to discuss the effect of the recession on museums (archived recording here.) I was generally pleased with the discussion, … -
Some Projections to End the Year
Contributed by Phil Katz, AAM’s Assistant Director for Research. Most anecdotal evidence has pointed to shrinking museum staffs in 2009. However, new projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest that the demand for museum … -
“Why would you want to visit a museum?”
This week’s guest post is by Ron Chew, independent consultant and Community Scholar in Residence at the Museology Graduate Program, University of Washington. Ron is the former director of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, and a member of the CFM … -
Vetting Future Museums
I read this morning that the National Museum of Language is on the brink of closing the outpost it opened last year in College Park, Maryland. This caught my eye because almost ten years ago their founder asked me to speak to their board …
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