Museums Can Change The World – Page 2 – American Alliance of Museums

Send Me to SxSW to Spread the Word about Museum Awesomeness

By Elizabeth Merritt

I need your help to create a future in which encounters like this don’t happen: At a convening of all sorts of important education types—foundation staff, teachers, policy makers—one of the participants turns to the chair of EdCom and …
Dream Big: Because Museums Can Change the World

By Elizabeth Merritt

Last week the MacArthur Foundation (“committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world”) announced the 100&Change Challenge. This competition will award $100M to a single proposal designed to help solve a critical problem …
A New Museum in NYC: Climate Change Museum

By Elizabeth Merritt

While I spend most of my time scanning for change taking place in society writ large, rather than trends in museum practice per se, I do keep an eye open for new museums. Why and how do museums arise (especially in these financially …
On Morning Coffee & Museum Activism

By Elizabeth Merritt

Last weekend, Starbucks announced it will stop putting the slogan “Race Together” on coffee cups. Their spokesperson said this was a previously scheduled move, but to many it looked like a response to the flak the company has been taking …
Throwback Thursday: Revisiting Trust

By Elizabeth Merritt

In this Tuesday’s post on trust–who trusts museums, and why–I mentioned a post I wrote almost exactly two years ago that touched on that issue. Choosing Roles: Facilitator or Advocate?” explored two options, either …
Small Museums in an Age of Scale

By Elizabeth Merritt

In November, the Smithsonian’s Michael Edson threw down the gauntlet here on the Blog, with Museums in an Age of Scale. Michael challenged museums to dream big, especially when it comes to education. He concluded: “Museums accomplish …
Catching up with Jeannette Ickovics: 2011 Feeding the Spirit Keynote Speaker

By Elizabeth Merritt

Can a museum win the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Childhood Obesity Challenge? With your help, maybe yes. Read on. Last winter, Jeannette Ickovics from the Yale School of Public Health talked to us about the exhibit Big Food: Health …
It’s Up 2 You!

By Elizabeth Merritt

The best way to get your message out is through whatever format your audience is already attuned to. This is not always (big shock) a 200 word exhibit text panel. The most effective medium might be video, a blog, a game, or a graphic …
Museums Can Change the World: Improving the Nation’s Health

By Elizabeth Merritt

A projection for the U.S., by 2030: Obesity prevalence will rise to ~50% in men between 45% and 52% in women. There will be: 7.8 million extra cases of diabetes; 6.8 million more cases of coronary heart disease and stroke; 539,000 …
Museums Shaping Cities

By Elizabeth Merritt

One crucial way museums can change the world is to help people in their communities improve their own environments. I want to spotlight a few notable examples that have crossed my radar recently. The National Building Museum’s Intelligent …