Inclusive?

How Can My Museum Be More

Theoretically
Based
Evaluations of
the social
inclusivity of
your museum

Exhibit
Evaluations
Personal
work with
Museum Staff
educational
presentations

www.lauraedythe.com

Strategic
Planning for
administraton
policy
assessment &
development
Grant Writing

When using the term Social Inclusion it is important to

explain:

Who is being included/excluded?

How are they being included/excluded?

Why does inclusion/exclusion exist in this situation?

The ambiguous discourse on social inclusion often contains
descriptors such as combating and mitigating social
exclusion yet it rarely stands alone as its own term; and
often it is explained in terms of being a response to social
exclusion. Museum professionals should use the term
Social Inclusion with care, and in direct connection to the
societal problems that their museum is charged to solve.

The term social inclusion has been attached to social and

economic theories. It has become, since the 1970s,
enmeshed in the governmental policies of Western Europe
and the United Kingdom (UK). Now, Social Inclusion is
emerging in the United States, appearing in American
Alliance of Museums (AAM) Diversity & Inclusion Policy
and MuseumNext 2015.

Social exclusion is not just one problem, but a multifaceted phenomenon that negatively affects the social,
economic, political, and cultural life of both the individual
and the society.

To understand Social Inclusion, one must first acknowledge

the problem of Social Exclusion. Social Inclusion is often
the assumed corollary to exclusion, being conceptualized
solely in relation to exclusion. In this perspective, social
inclusion and exclusion are inseparable sides of the same
coin.

WhatisSocialInclusion?

WhyStudySocialInclusioninMuseums?

"The act of including; a strategy to

leverage diversity. Diversity
always exists in social systems.
Inclusion, on the other hand, must
be created. In order to leverage
diversity, an environment must be
created where people feel
supported, listened to, and able to
do their personal best."
AAM Diversity & Inclusion Policy
2014

Our Reasons:
The AAM recently generated a Diversity and
Inclusion Policy, but what does this policy really
mean? How will this policy change museums?
Change museum professionals? Change society?

My Reasons:
Museums wield tremendous power to change
society, to uphold society, and to affirm society.
Social inclusion advocates that everyone should
have access to and be represented by museums,
thus limiting the marginalization of particular groups.
Despite the efforts to generate social inclusivity,
museums have yet to develop consistent means of
evaluating their efforts. Sandell (1998) articulates the
need for continued research into museums and
social inclusion. I am a Museum Informaticist
answering this call for the measurement of the social
changes that occur due to museum influence.

"To Achieve Cultural Inclusion"

Relies on the information transfer of
individuals to the outside world postmuseum visit.

The Inclusive Museum

To Improve Individuals Quality of Life

Gatekeepers can restrict or facilitate
information.
Information transfer is not reliant on
the role of individuals to the outside world
post-museum visit.

The Museum as Agent

of Social Regeneration

What does the Socially Inclusive

Museum Look Like?

How do we get here?

To Influence Society, Instigate Positive

Social Change
Gatekeepers at multiple levels of
authority, moving in a constantly changing
network of divergent voices.

The Museum as Vehicle

for Broad Social Change

Studies of museum visitor

and staff perceptions of
exhibits and collections.
Example: Ethnographic work
in which visitors and staff
talk aloud through the
process of internalizing an
exhibit.

Studies of objects in the

collection, and also
identified as associated with
those excluded. Example:
Ratio of objects identified
with those excluded on
display to objects identified
within the entire collection.

Exhibits present contested

histories or issues, but the
individual is left with the
task of addressing these
issues internally.

Representation of and
participation and access for
those excluded.
Representation of those
excluded is evidenced in the
curatorial voice of an exhibit.

Achieved through...

"To Achieve Cultural Inclusion"

Social Inclusion can be

Measured Qualitatively

Social Inclusion can be

Measured Quantitatively

Social problems associated

with exclusion might be
addressed indirectly.

Exclusion is tackled
within...
the Cultural Dimension
Recognition of
curatorial voice, the sharing
of curatorial voice, and
sharing of cultural authority

The Inclusive Museum

How is my Museum
Socially Inclusive?

Social Inclusion can be

Measured Quantitatively

Social problems associated

with exclusion might be
expressed within the
museums goals.

Studies of individuals within

the community who do or do
not experience the museum
directly.

Historic social issues

become contemporary
problems through authorized
channels such as museum
mission & vision statements.

Initiatives which seek to

alleviate disadvantage and
encourage personal
development.

Achieved through...

What is keeping my
Museum from being
Socially Inclusive?

To Improve Individuals Quality of Life

Studies of individuals
perceptions of museum
value in their lives. .

Recognition of curatorial
voice, the sharing of
curatorial voice, and the
sharing of cultural authority.
The direct intention of
sharing curatorial voice is
the betterment of individual
lives.

Social Inclusion can be

Measured Qualitatively

the Economic, Social,

Political, and Cultural
Dimensions

Exclusion is tackled
within...

The Museum As Agent of

Social Regeneration

Longitudinal studies which

consist of interviews or
dialogues with the same
individuals over time.

How Will I know

when My Museum Is
socially Inclusive?

To Influence Society, Instigate Positive Social Change

Social Inclusion can be

Measured Qualitatively

Gatekeepers on multiple levels

consciously address the social
problems associated with
exclusion.

Providing a forum for public

debate, education and
persuasion.

Achieved through...

Longitudinal studies which

measure multiple facets of
individual, household,
community, and national
health.

Social problems associated

with exclusion might be
expressed within the
museums goals.

The curatorial voice of a

museum has an unashamed
social stance: to provide a
forum to create a better
society through dialogue.

Social Inclusion can be

Measured Quantitatively

the Economic, Social,

Political, and Cultural
Dimensions

Exclusion is tackled
within...

The Museum as Vehicle

for Broad Social Change

Laura-Edythe Coleman

Museum Informaticist

HELLO
MY NAME IS

Who is Serious About Social

Inclusion?

Are You Serious?

How Can Evaluation

of social inclusion
benefit my museum?

lcoleman@fsu.edu

www.lauraedythe.com

Laura-Edythe Coleman is a Museum

Informaticist and a Doctoral Candidate in
Information Science at Florida State
University. Ms. Colemans research and
teaching interests include museum informatics,
museum evaluation, knowledge management,
and the co-creation of identity. Her particular
area of research examines cultural heritage
institutions in communities reconciling civil
conflict.

One Community, One Nation At A Time.

One Object, One Exhibit, One Museum

Saving the World

Current Work

Museum Professionals Perceptions of Social Inclusion: AAM 2015 Study

A Qualitative study of AAM Museum Professionals perceptions of Social Inclusion and the
AAM Diversity & Inclusion policy statements. This study will help to bridge the gap between
theory and practice and would illuminate how inclusion work could better be supported through,
for example, strategic deployment of museum resources. Research team: Rose Paquet Kinsley
(UW), Laura-Edythe Coleman (FSU), Porchia Moore (USC)

Curators of Conflict: The Gatekeeping Mechanisms of Curatorial Voice

Through a series of proposed intensive interviews, the researcher and
curatorial staff of museums handling contested subject matter will explore
the role of curatorial voice and the gatekeeping mechanism utilized to
express that voice.