CLOSED: CALL FOR ARTICLE IDEAS
Journal of Museum Education
Issue 51.3, September 2026
Trans Museology
Guest Editors: Amelia Smith and Margaret Middleton
This special issue will put a variety of perspectives from transgender museum professionals in conversation with one another to discuss what it means to approach museum work with trans methodologies.
As trans museum professionals, we the guest editors have been pleased to see more trans-authored works coming out of museum studies departments. While this is exciting for the future of the field, we have noted that there remains a gulf between the theory discussed in dissertations and the practice conducted within museum walls.Trans perspectives in museum journals, edited volumes, and resources are often only given mention within a larger queer museum theory context, treated as external to the museum (a focus on visitors and “communities”), or discussed within DEAI through the lens of employee support, mostly focused on transition. This special edition seeks to bridge this gap by inviting a variety of trans museum professionals to offer the insights they have gleaned in their careers and their visions for the future of museum practice. We welcome challenges, critiques, provocations, and confrontations.
Topics that authors might address include:
- Trans methodology
- Trans labor in museums
- New strategies for interpreting trans content
- Intersections with race, indigeneity, disability
- Anti-colonial approaches
Other contributions might include:
- Case studies
- Personal essays
- Visual artwork such as comics
- Exhibition reviews
- Book reviews of recent (published in the last 4 years) books that explore trans themes within the context of museums, education, or art/history/science communication. For example:
- Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects, 2024
- Calling the Shots: A Queer History of Photography, 2024
- The Shape of Sex: Nonbinary Gender from Genesis to the Renaissance, 2021
Submission Process and Criteria
We encourage submissions from practitioners working in all types of settings, locations, and career levels. Submissions may also take alternative form besides formal, written academic articles, including artistic interpretations, interviews, lesson plans, personal reflections, and more.
We will prioritize submissions that:
- Have a clear connection to the intersection between trans museology and museum education
- Draw on authors’ lived experiences as trans museum professionals
- Consider trans experience as it relates to museum work
- Speak to an audience that includes trans museum professionals and educators
- Represent the breadth and diversity of our global field
As a whole issue, we aim to ensure the articles represent a variety of museum types, sizes, and locations. Trans and nonbinary authors will be prioritized, as well as disabled, Black, Indigenous authors and authors of color.
To be considered for the issue, potential authors must complete this brief online form with author contact information, a clear thesis and an abstract for your proposed article, and answers to the following questions 1) what new contributions your article brings to museum scholarship 2) how your article and the work it outlines specifically relates to museum education, and 3) how your article will engage with current trans scholarship.
Submissions are now closed.
Next Steps:
The guest editors will review submissions with the support of the MER Editorial Team and contact potential authors to discuss their proposed article ideas.
Authors will be notified of inclusion by November 15, 2025. Once an article idea is accepted, authors must submit a maximum of 3,500 word draft paper and short bio to the guest editors on or before January 20, 2025. All submissions accepted by the guest editors will then undergo the standard peer review process, in which authors will not know who reviewed their work and reviewers will not know who authored the submission. Reviewers recommend publication, revision, or rejection of a submission.
Visit our Journal Submissions page for more information or feel free to contact the editors at [email protected] with questions.
As an organization based in the United States, MER is committed to the principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition, with international authors and readers, we strive to make the Journal of Museum Education as accessible as possible and will provide accommodations. For specific accommodations at any point during the submission or writing process, please contact: [email protected].
The Journal of Museum Education (JME) is the premier peer-reviewed publication exploring and reporting on theory, training, and practice in the museum education field. Journal articles—written by museum education practitioners and scholars—explore such relevant topics as museum-related learning theory; visitor engagement and community involvement; evaluation; teaching strategies for art, science, and history museums; and the responsibilities of museums as public institutions.