Museum Visions: A Blog Space

With members spread across the country (the globe, actually!), the Museum Education Roundtable (MER) board conducts most of its work via email and monthly conference calls. It’s an efficient way to do things, but we all look forward to the few times each year when we get together for face-to-face meetings and a little fun too. We gather each August … Read More

This year marks a first for the Museum Education Roundtable, as we kick off the inaugural edition of our new annual Awards for Writing Excellence for the Journal of Museum Education. Funded cooperatively between MER and our publishers, Taylor & Francis, these prizes will be awarded each year to one or more authors and editors in recognition of the high … Read More

As a middle management museum educator, I had no clue what it took to serve on a board, let alone what a board actually did. My experience with boards at that point in my life was entirely on the periphery. To be on a Board of Directors seemed like an elite club to be mysteriously invited into. What I did … Read More

I titled my introduction to the December 2017 issue of the Journal of Museum Education (JME) “An Invitation to Write.” The piece shares the process and outcomes of the JME’s spring 2017 open call for articles, our invitation to practitioners to formally share their work in the pages of the journal. The 2017 call resulted in an overwhelming 48 article … Read More

The topic of the current and future status of museum docent and guide programs (volunteer and paid) is a frequent conversation among colleagues in U. S. museums. How can we have a corps of educators that are representative of our country’s demographics with our current volunteer-based models? How are we ensuring learner-centered teaching and dialogue in museum tours? How can … Read More

As everyone begins to put their final touches on their holiday wish lists, consider adding some books that will help inspire, recharge, and re-imagine your museum work in the new year. The Museum Education Roundtable Board of Directors have shared some of the books that they have found valuable and wish list worthy, including: Bone Rooms: from Scientific Racism to … Read More

Whew! What a year! I  know what you’re thinking. Rest assured, this post isn’t about politics. Each August, the MER Board of Directors convenes for its annual retreat. Since many of our board members work in amazing museums, our retreat venues are guaranteed to be unique and inspiring. This year was no different. We were fortunate to be warmly hosted … Read More

Recently I found myself in a series of intense meetings at the Wien Museum where I work, discussing the curation of a small, temporary exhibition culled from our permanent collection.  Made necessary by a large special exhibition that will occupy the entire first floor of the museum, the gallery will showcase highlights from the museum’s seventeenth- and eighteenth- century collections, … Read More