Behold today's brilliance:
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Notes from the Museum Data Service launch
3 months ago
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
I'm a PC - part 2
So, earlier I posted about the Mac/PC wars, and Microsoft's very lame attempt to be cool. Well, as predicted, it went over like a lead balloon. However, if you've seen their new ads, I have to admit, I like them! Rather than trying to be hip and clever, they embrace the fact that maybe they arent as cool, but that more people still use PCs. I love the "I'm a PC and I'm not a stereotype" ads.
The only question remains, did it really take them this long to come out with this rebuttal? They need a new marketing team.
The only question remains, did it really take them this long to come out with this rebuttal? They need a new marketing team.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Banned Books Week
Tomorrow marks the start of Banned Books Week. This year I will be reading "The Golden Compass," which I cannot believe I haven't read yet. I'll also re-read "And Tango Makes Three," which is probably the most adorably innocuous book to top the list of banned books.
So, what are you reading?
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Let it be known
That I am terrible at "free writing." Has the world of education and work so destroyed me thus far that when faced with a blank page and free choice of topic, I cannot find a damn thing to write about in a coherent and skillful way? Or have I reached a point where I write like a damn politician, without ever making a statement, but rather arguing both sides until I am blue? Perhaps I am so used to research papers that I feel the need to present compelling evidence and cannot state a damned opinion.
And apparently this makes me angry, hence the use of "damn" throughout.
Perhaps I do need to start creative writing again. Maybe the activities will help build the atrophied muscles.
Next few blog postings will be attempts at "short essays...reflective of...ideas, thoughts, concerns, and interests around the idea of critical museum pedagogy." I swear I am trying.
And apparently this makes me angry, hence the use of "damn" throughout.
Perhaps I do need to start creative writing again. Maybe the activities will help build the atrophied muscles.
Next few blog postings will be attempts at "short essays...reflective of...ideas, thoughts, concerns, and interests around the idea of critical museum pedagogy." I swear I am trying.
Designing for Critical Thinking
A short bit on designing for critical thinking/dialogue. Some bits of this were originally part of an article I co-authored for the Fall 2007 issue of Museums and Social Issues. This bit was unfortunately cut, but I feel like revisiting it.
Museums are not classrooms. We hear it constantly; we repeat it constantly. Attempts to bring classroom methods to museums are often met with heavy resistance. Partly this is because many attempts to integrate classroom philosophies into museums fail to adapt to the unique environment of non-formal education. Partly this may be because museums pride themselves on being non-formal, and thus fail to see the value in philosophies based in formal education.
Whatever the reason, I find myself stuck trying to find real ways to effect the goals of critical pedagogy in the museum setting. True critical pedagogy, as championed by Friere and others, requires a skilled facilitator to help participants through the process of learning. In much of the reading so far, it seems that facilitation remains the best way to stimulate dialogue and critical learning. So how can we facilitate, through an exhibit, without a guide or docent?
Exhibits communicate in several ways: through objects, interpretive text and design. So, how can an exhibit, without a single person to facilitate, encourage dialogue and inspire visitors to think critically about their world? What elements of design and development encourage critical thought and dialogue? Conversely, what elements may inadvertently communicate hegemony and positions of power?
In the original incarnation of the article “Can You Do That?,” we included a section on designing for dialogue. I would like to further investigate this concept and find an avenue for publication. I think that exhibit design often gets overlooked in favor of programming, but many museums cannot support long term programming with professionally trained facilitators.
Objects:
• As indicated in the Hooper-Greenhill, “objects do not speak for themselves…objects are spoken.” Every exhibit displays curatorial choices in display. Linked objects, display context, use of images and object display style all communicate to the public. The choice of object displayed can communicate ideas about power and control as well.
Labels:
• Labels are generally the way that museums communicate through exhibits. Labels should strive against being overly didactic and should serve to stimulate critical thinking. As per Lindauer, labels can be used to disrupt hegemony and displace authority. Prompting questions can also serve to stimulate dialogue.
Design:
• Comfort! Critical thinking is uncomfortable. Dialogue is uncomfortable. If you try to combine these with an uncomfortable physical environment, you set yourself up to fail. Soft seating, pleasant lighting, protected spaces, etc, all can lead to enhanced opportunities for dialogue and thinking.
• Placement of exhibits and components is important. What message does it send if an exhibit about this history of communities of color is tucked back in a seldom visited corner? Or if an exhibit on migrant farm workers is displayed in a poorly organized hallway? Likewise, if hegemonic displays are given a place of prominence, it sends a similar message.
More on this to come.
Museums are not classrooms. We hear it constantly; we repeat it constantly. Attempts to bring classroom methods to museums are often met with heavy resistance. Partly this is because many attempts to integrate classroom philosophies into museums fail to adapt to the unique environment of non-formal education. Partly this may be because museums pride themselves on being non-formal, and thus fail to see the value in philosophies based in formal education.
Whatever the reason, I find myself stuck trying to find real ways to effect the goals of critical pedagogy in the museum setting. True critical pedagogy, as championed by Friere and others, requires a skilled facilitator to help participants through the process of learning. In much of the reading so far, it seems that facilitation remains the best way to stimulate dialogue and critical learning. So how can we facilitate, through an exhibit, without a guide or docent?
Exhibits communicate in several ways: through objects, interpretive text and design. So, how can an exhibit, without a single person to facilitate, encourage dialogue and inspire visitors to think critically about their world? What elements of design and development encourage critical thought and dialogue? Conversely, what elements may inadvertently communicate hegemony and positions of power?
In the original incarnation of the article “Can You Do That?,” we included a section on designing for dialogue. I would like to further investigate this concept and find an avenue for publication. I think that exhibit design often gets overlooked in favor of programming, but many museums cannot support long term programming with professionally trained facilitators.
Objects:
• As indicated in the Hooper-Greenhill, “objects do not speak for themselves…objects are spoken.” Every exhibit displays curatorial choices in display. Linked objects, display context, use of images and object display style all communicate to the public. The choice of object displayed can communicate ideas about power and control as well.
Labels:
• Labels are generally the way that museums communicate through exhibits. Labels should strive against being overly didactic and should serve to stimulate critical thinking. As per Lindauer, labels can be used to disrupt hegemony and displace authority. Prompting questions can also serve to stimulate dialogue.
Design:
• Comfort! Critical thinking is uncomfortable. Dialogue is uncomfortable. If you try to combine these with an uncomfortable physical environment, you set yourself up to fail. Soft seating, pleasant lighting, protected spaces, etc, all can lead to enhanced opportunities for dialogue and thinking.
• Placement of exhibits and components is important. What message does it send if an exhibit about this history of communities of color is tucked back in a seldom visited corner? Or if an exhibit on migrant farm workers is displayed in a poorly organized hallway? Likewise, if hegemonic displays are given a place of prominence, it sends a similar message.
More on this to come.
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