In November 2019, the Smithsonian hosted the "Transatlantic Seminar for Museum Curators and Educators: Museums as Spaces for Social Discourse and Learning." The program brought together German and American museum professionals and was co-sponsored by the Leibniz Institution, the Smithsonian Institution, and Fulbright Germany. A keynote…

This dissertation presents three studies on learning in children museums. The first study is a literature review of the research that was done on learning in children's museums between 2010 and 2021. In this review, I focused on presenting a current state of the field with insights into what research has been done and where there may be gaps in…

The border, as defined by Gloria Anzaldúa, is conceptually marked by an ideological site called "nepantla"--a Nahuatl word that refers to a space existing in-between worlds. Nepantla is a performative site for visual art and writing. Making borderlands foods is an active space that exists in-between worlds. Using a performative approach…

Homeless families are a vulnerable population not often engaged with directly by science centers. In 2019, the Museum of Life and Science formalized and strengthened a partnership with Families Moving Forward, the largest temporary homeless shelter serving families in Durham County, North Carolina. This partnership aimed to engage families in a…

Guided tours of memorial museums have sought to have an impact on visitors through an affective learning environment and critical reflection leading to 'action'. However, there is limited work investigating the pedagogical underpinnings of such guided tours in order to understand whether they can facilitate action. This paper presents reflections…

The need for an effective communication between scientific research and society is widely known to the broadest scientific community, and the sad times we are living in make it even clearer. At the same time, the need of establishing long-term structural connections between the worlds of research and that of education and scientific communication…

After an outside evaluator identified key areas of improvement, the Education Department at the Bruce Museum refocused staff responsibilities in order to meet audience needs. To utilize staff effectively, the department underwent a radical restructuring, transitioning from a traditional vertical structure to a horizontal, integrated management…

The Sanctuary Series at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston has helped the museum develop deep connections with local visitors by providing creative, playful, and contemplative small-group experiences. The program demonstrates that art museums can be powerful spaces for connection and well-being.

In the last decade, explorations into the work of volunteer educators, titled "docents," within art museums revealed turbulent circumstances that led some institutions to alter their volunteer programs, if not end them entirely. How did art museums come to rely on volunteers to undertake such an important responsibility -- that of…

Social studies teachers have long utilized field trips; yet in the 21st century, scholars are describing a bleak future for those who attempt to utilize the practice. The common reasons being cited, among others, include a slumping economy, an increase in accountability due to high-stakes testing, and rising fuel costs. While obstacles have always…

The Federal Arts Project (WPA-FAP) (1935-1943) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was a federally funded program designed through Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal to keep visual artists at work during the Great Depression. Many of these arts programs took place through museums and exhibitions, bringing the visual arts to everyday Americans…

Despite a diverse and vibrant contemporary artistic scene, East Africa sees less international exposure than other regions on the continent; this article argues that a new approach to understanding the complexities and value of performance in the region is fundamental to developing the sector. East African Soul Train is a pop-up residency, which…

This forum article discusses learning and teaching in Science Centres in relation to gender. The starting point of this discussion is Eva Silfver's paper "Gender performance in and out-of-school science contexts." In response to this article I discuss the discourse of gender in research on Science Centres and museums. Moreover, the text…

Historically, minority women artists and scholars of color have been ignored by the White patriarchal canon of art education and the arts. I uncrate Josefina Aguilar's 14-piece clay "muñecas," which have been stored away in the Palmer Museum of Art for more than two decades, to demonstrate this lack of exposure. I position my own Latina…

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers need both motivation and interpersonal skills in STEM disciplines. The aims of the study were to identify clusters of adolescents who vary in math and science motivation and interpersonal skills and to explore what factors are related to membership in a high math and science motivation and…