As part of a series focusing on national identity and the future of the United Kingdom, we'd like to know what you think about the idea of being British and part of the UK. What sort of terms would you use to describe your nationality and how you fit into the UK as a whole? ("Liverpudlian, Welsh, Welsh-Irish, Black-british" - what words do you use if any?).
I don't mean to belittle the successes that my fellow museum educators have achieved in advocating for the public dimension over the years. But, as one colleague put it when I discussed this blog with her - "[museum educators] have changed the identity of museums, but perhaps have not gained power." Without this power, in my view, advocates of the public dimension have had and will continue to have great difficulty in fundamentally transforming their institutions. And most of our museums, exhibitions and programs will continue to look and operate pretty much the same as they always have.
This conference focuses on the interaction between museums and communities. In times of mobility and change, history museums play an important role in societal questions of social cohesion, identity and belonging. In search of their roots, people turn to heritage. History is popular as never before and it surfaces in all contemporary media. At the same time, the communication era offers new possibilities to form communities, based on common interests and preferences or popular and corporate culture. Museums in general, as part of the public sphere, are an important tool in this dynamic process of heritage formation and the performance of community.
"Actual versus idealised personality
To find out psychologists recruited 236 US and German students who use social networking sites and had them complete personality measures (Back et al., 2010).
These measured first their actual personalities on what psychologists call the 'Big 5' personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience). Secondly it measured their idealised personalities: who they would like to be."
How do you design physical infrastructure that ties individuals together in meaningful ways?
1. How do we let people personalize their identity in the museum such that they feel less like strangers and more like potential associates?
2. How do we design spaces that support sharing and intimacy among associated visitors?