Each issue of Museum includes four feature articles and one point of view article.
Submit an article pitch for an upcoming issue.
2024
January/February
TrendsWatch
Culture Wars 2.0
AI Adolescence
Towards Net Zero
March/April
Volunteers/Volunteerism
Potential topics can include but are not limited to: volunteer recruitment and retention; visitor engagement; cultural competency; communicating on sensitive topics; performance improvement and feedback; volunteer preferences; training and development; personalization/customization; recognition and appreciation; diverse and inclusive volunteerism; virtual volunteers; interpretation techniques; challenging visitor behaviors.
Article pitches for the March/April issue should be received by November 1, 2023.
May/June
Health and Well-being (see our Annual Meeting theme focused on this topic)
Potential topics can include but are not limited to: health services and support; remote and hybrid work; work-life balance; wellness programs; burnout prevention; open and transparent communication; stress management; community engagement and service; professional growth and development; recognition and appreciation; conflict resolution and mediation.
Article pitches for the May/June issue should be received by January 5, 2024.
July/August
Polarization
Potential topics can include but are not limited to: political neutrality; organizational culture and values; crisis management and controversy; communication and social media strategy; culture wars; inclusive visitor and community engagement; politically motivated funding shifts; public perception and trust; board and donor relations.
Article pitches for the July/August issue should be received by February 16, 2024.
September/October
Leadership
Potential topics can include but are not limited to: CEO/board relations; hybrid work models and engagement; evolving fundraising strategies; board leadership; addressing contemporary issues such as climate change, AI and automation, technology ethics and privacy; crisis preparedness and response; government relations and policy advocacy; earned revenue and fundraising; leadership development; impact measurement and reporting; innovative collaborations/partnerships; social justice and advocacy.
Article pitches for the September/October issue should be received by May 6, 2024.
November/December
DEAI
Potential topics include but are not limited to: creating and implementing a DEAI plan; trustee engagement in DEAI; DEAI informed practices in development, finance, and human relations; accountability with the community; measuring and evaluating DEAI; development of Chief Diversity Officer positions, onboarding, and support; well-being and care for those engaged in DEAI; DEAI in a politically polarized era; inclusive and community centered work in culturally specific institutions.
Article pitches for the November/December issue should be received by July 8, 2024.
2023
January/February
TrendsWatch (Digital trends; post-pandemic workplace; the partisan divide)
Potential topics include national or local civic education programs; pandemic digital experiments and improvements; assessing and planning for the cost of maintaining digital assets; reshaping the workforce in alignment with practical and value-based decisions on such things as pay, benefits, and policies; automation in museums and its workforce implications; pathways to professional advancement.
March/April
Storytelling
Potential topics include label writing; descendent voices; community storytelling; first- or third-person interpretation; personal narratives; tours; performance-based storytelling; digital storytelling; storytelling design and/or techniques; visitor-centered approaches; controversial subject matter; ethical responsibilities; multivocal stories; exhibition design as storytelling.
May/June
Social and Community Impact
July/August
Education
Potential topics include teacher training; education models; museum/school partnerships; virtual learning; life-long learning-intergenerational learning; social/emotional learning; education and censorship; expanding roles of educators; human-centered education; unschooling; homeschooling.
September/October
Advocacy
Potential topics include state and local advocacy initiatives; year round advocacy; making the case for the social and economic impact of museums and why museums matter; creative approaches to advocacy; state and/or local tax initiatives that benefit museums; planning for and participating in America 250 (USA’s Semiquincentennial).
November/December
Repatriation
Potential topics include voluntary repatriation; new boundaries on legal challenges; state and federal legislation; beyond repatriation–reparations and restitution; ethical considerations; collection stewardship; museum and source community partnerships.
2022
January/February
Organizational Excellence: Performance, Assessment, and Transformation
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, Accreditation; Museum Assessment Program (MAP); standards; peer review; core documents verification.
March/April
Community Engagement
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, social practice; exhibition co-creation; social inquiry exhibitions; community-centered practice; health and well-being; supporting vulnerable communities; research and evaluation; BIPOC engagement; COVID-19; activism.
May/June
Annual Meeting Issue
July/August
Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, go-green initiatives; exhibitions; environmental education; environmental justice; preservation, conservation and environmental activism; building design and operations.
September/October
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, organizational structures/culture; human resources; access; public accountability; governance; collections; exhibition interpretation and display; staff training; curation; anti-racism; power shifting.
November/December
The Digital Revolution
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, organizational culture; digital skills; equity and access; augmented reality; virtual reality; visitor experience; mobile applications; websites; digital collections; virtual exhibitions; social media; business models; virtual learning.
2021
January/February
Race and Social Justice
Potential topics are, but not limited to, Black Lives Matter; organizational structures; public accountability; truth and reconciliation; conflict mediation; systemic racism; collection acquisition; exhibition interpretation and display; staff training; curation; anti-racism; shifting of language from DEAI to racial equity to anti-racism; power shifting.
March/April
TrendsWatch
Topics include museum-school partnerships that offer structured support for students during COVID-19; college or university galleries or museums supporting student activities during COVID-19; adopting digital tools or strategies in response to COVID-19 challenges; reparative practice through collections, resources, staffing or governance to advance greater equity; promoting civic dialogue across partisan social and political divides; building local audiences as a consequence of travel and tourism restrictions during COVID-19.
May/June
Annual Meeting Issue
Topics include community-centered practice and engagement; communications strategy; immigration and refugee communities; inclusive emergency management; bridging difference; activism; museums as public assets; misinformation and trust; activism; social impact; co-curation; climate change and environmental sustainability; global connection; fostering belonging; reducing polarization.
July/August
Emotion and Empathy
Topics include, but aren’t limited to, affective learning strategies; exhibition design; social inquiry exhibitions; community practice; social impact; institutional trauma; emotional intelligence; research on perception or physiological response and emotion; healing and renewal; resilience; self-care; belonging; generational trauma; environmental empathy; empathy-building; exhibitions on emotion.
September/October
Creative Aging
Topics include programs and services for people 55 and older, and caregivers for aging adults, to foster health and well-being during the COVID-19 era; ageism in museum operations; seniors and volunteerism; getting started with creative aging museum programs; evaluation of creative aging programs; funding sources for creative aging initiatives/projects.
November/December
Museum Identity and Redefinition
Topics include, but are not limited to, museums as public assets, civic spaces, stewards for cultural heritage, and prisms of identity.
2020
January/February
Curatorial Practice
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, changing responsibilities, social issues, collection-based engagement; decolonizing collection acquisition, interpretation, and display; visitor, object-based, or community-based approaches; professional training.
March/April
Identity Issues
Potential topics broadly focused on identity to include, but not limited to, collections, exhibitions, representation, women’s rights, LGBTQ issues, gender bias, gender equity.
Summer
Bridge to the Future
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, museum practices, programs, and operations that are responding to emerging social, economic, political and technological forces and implications for the future.
September/October
Civic Engagement
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, civic participation and education, responsible citizenship, community service, volunteerism, democratic values and dilemmas, activism.
November/December
Building Audiences
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, data-driven decision-making, diversifying audiences, engaging new audiences, retaining loyalty, research-based strategy, community building, marketing and communication strategies, earned revenue opportunities, new membership models.
2019
January/ February
Technology
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, immersive theater, virtual reality and augmented reality, exhibition development and the selfie culture, implications of new intelligence specifically—chatbots, artificial intelligence tools for mining and managing huge digital databases, artificial intelligence as a creative tool, technology to optimize and personalize experiences, implicit biases in technology models; data privacy—concerns and best practices.
March/April
Courting Controversy
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, addressing divisive issues, taking a stand or not, neutrality, cultivating brave spaces, politics, activism.
May/June
Financial Sustainability
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, free vs. paid admission, dynamic pricing, early detection of financial shortfalls, creative revenue models, entrepreneurial approaches (hotels, conference centers), new mission-related income streams.
July/August
Decolonizing Collections
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, joint collecting agreements, long term care of objects, collections planning to reflect changing demographics and inclusive stories, label re-writing and tagging digital collections for inclusion, copyright and ethics issues on digital content in regions of conflict, repatriation.
September/October
Workforce/Workplace
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, new job categories and changing roles, unions, pay equity, in-sourcing vs. outsourcing, unbiased hiring, the pay gap, updated salary survey, internships, “ban-the-box” initiatives; living wage policies.
November/December
Health and Well-Being
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, creative aging, neuroaesthetics, empathy, sensory experiences and wellness, social connection, cognitive disabilities.
Write for Museum
Please fill in the following form to submit your article pitch. Keep in mind each issue of Museum includes four feature articles and one point of view article.
Items of interest about your museum—temporary or permanent exhibitions, education programs, partnerships or initiatives, new building/wing—should be submitted for consideration to bit.ly/MuseumNewsAAM
Career news—transitions, promotions, retirements, in memoriams, accolades—should be submitted for consideration to bit.ly/CareerNewsAAM