1st Edition

Theorizing Equity in the Museum Integrating Perspectives from Research and Practice

Edited By Bronwyn Bevan, Bahia Ramos Copyright 2022
184 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

184 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

184 Pages 12 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Theorizing Equity in the Museum integrates the perspectives of learning researchers and museum practitioners to shed light on the deep-seated structures that must be accounted for if the field is to move past aspirations and rhetoric and towards more inclusive practices.  Written during a time when museums around the world were being forced to reckon with their institutional practices of... Read more

List of Figures

List of Contributors

Preface

Chapter 1

Spatial Justice Theory
Working Towards Justice: Reclaiming our Science Center

Angela Calabrese Barton, Micaela Balzer, Won Jung Kim, Nik McPherson, Sinead Brien, Day Greenberg, Louise Archer, and the Members of the Youth Action Council

Chapter 2

Critical Pedagogy and Critical Theory

Museum Education and Critical Pedagogy: Re-imagining Power in the Art Museum

Correna Cohen and Aaliyah El-Amin

Chapter 3

Feminism, Intersectionality, and Decolonization Theories

"The Price We Have to Be Willing to Pay is Ourselves": Discussing Illusions of Inclusion in Science Centers and Museums 

Rokia Ballo, Subhadra Das, Emily Dawson, Vanessa Mignan, and Clémence Perronnet

Chapter 4

Theories of Identity in Communities of Practice

Centering Equity and Access: An Examination of a Natural History Museum’s Mentored Research Youth Program

Rachel Chaffee, Preeti Gupta, Tramia Jackson, and Karen Hammerness

Chapter 5

Foucauldian Discourses of Power

Discourses of Dissent: How Competing Agendas Prevent or Enable Sustainable Change Taking Place within Twenty-First Century Art Museums

Emily Pringle

Chapter 6

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Feminist Theory

Female-Responsive Exhibit Design: Explorations of a Research-Practice Partnership

Lisa Sindorf, Toni Dancstep, Veronica Garcia-Luis, Eric Dimond, Sam Haynor, Vicente Oropeza, Jessica Strick, Diane Whitmore, and Mary-Elizabeth Yarbrough 

Chapter 7

Theories of Rightful Presence in Socio-Cultural Contexts

Vicious Cycles: Museums Marginalize the Museum Educators They Hire to Engage Marginalized Communities 

Bronwyn Bevan, Cecilia Garibay, and Rabiah Mayas

Chapter 8

Social Models of Disability and Museum Research

Inclusion and Accessibility in Science Museums: Voices from Brazil

Jessica Norberto Rocha, Mariana Fernandes, and Luisa Massarani

Chapter 9

Embodied Theory and Lived Experience

Museums are Burning: Dare We Engage a Liberatory Imagination in Practice and Research?

Shannon K. McManimon and Ayaan Natala

Index

Biography

Bronwyn Bevan, PhD, worked at the Exploratorium in San Francisco for almost 25 years, starting as a project coordinator for a program working with teachers, developing collaborations with universities and CBOs, and ultimately overseeing research and serving as a member of the senior management team. Her research examines how learning can be organized to empower individuals and communities. 

Bahia Ramos is director of arts at the Wallace Foundation. She leads the team responsible for the strategy and implementation of the foundation’s work in areas including building audiences for the arts and promoting arts education for young people. Before arriving at Wallace, Ramos served as program director of the arts for the Knight Foundation. In that role, she built national partnerships and initiatives with organizations such as ArtPlace and Sundance, and worked on the local level to bring arts experiences to diverse audiences and neighborhoods.