Articles on the Lenape

The two articles I read were in regards to the Lenni Lenape and the Nanticoke natives. The first article titled "Strategies for Survival: The Nanticoke Indians in a Hostile World" which was published in 1979. The second article was published in 2017 from a Widener law student titled "Utilizing Dignity Rights to Further Tribal Prerogatives: The Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware." Reading these two articles juxtapositioned against one another gave a more concrete passage of time in the struggles both the Lenni Lenape and the Nanticoke face and are still facing.

Considering one article is more styled as a law document and the other being more of a historical document, the styles of writing were extremely different. That being said they're both equally important to one another to paint a more clear and concise picture to the reader about the tribes. Also the considerable amount of time between both of the articled being written puts a lot about the Tribes into perspective regarding their welfare, history, and future.

Bibliography:
1.  Delaware Chief addressing his people, an 18th century painting courtesy of: http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-88C

2. Porter, Frank W. “Strategies for Survival: The Nanticoke Indians in a Hostile World.” Ethnohistory 26, no. 4 (1979): 325–45. https://doi.org/10.2307/481364.

3. Roland, Dean. “Utilizing Dignity Rights to Further Tribal Prerogatives: The Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware,” n.d., 26.

Post III

Going through these articles regarding Virtual Reality (VR) was rather tricky due to the majority of the papers present being those regarding experimentation and surveys (such as Complementing Artworks to Create Immersive VR Experiences by Wolfgang Hürst, Ferdinand de Coninck, and Xhi Jia Tan), which while useful, were far too underdeveloped, esoteric, or overall lacked the proper sources in order to do a complete analysis for something along these lines. With this "discovery" of sorts, I have decided to expand my thesis from just VR related material to VR and AR material, a move that is not so much of a stretch given how the two occupy similar circles, and both focus on a similar outcome. From what I said earlier, majority is the key word, however, as I was able to find two papers that I found fairly acceptable for the current research present, the first being Beyond Virtual Museums: Experiencing Immersive Virtual Reality in Real Museums written up by Marcello Carrozzino and Massimo Bergamasco. In the paper, the two argue that Virtual Reality can play a key role in immersing the visitor and be very effective at communicating the culture of the subject matter, citing aspects such as the Virtual Livorno and a digital recreation of the Turandot opera.
 The Second article, Virtual Museums For All: Employing Game Technology for Edutainment writtten by George Lepouras and Costas Vassilakis, while I initially found it to be useful and then almost worthless, it's both to a degree. The article involves a test in which a completely digital museum space would be created and conduct user feedback after a "visit", and while this sounds like a good idea, the problem is that the article was written up in 2004, old enough to the point where they were still using the Quake III engine as a blueprint of sorts. Technology has advanced a lot since then, making these tests inaccurate to today's standards, but upon thinking about it a bit more, it still has its uses as history of sorts. Digital Museum spaces such as The VR Museum of Fine Art were not created overnight, that digital space can still be considered a stepping stone for what we have today. Not the biggest portion of the thesis, sure, but it can still provide some uses.
Ironically enough, I found the less useful of the articles to be more interesting, and if it were 2004, it probably would have been far more important than the Marcello and Massimo article given how it's a breakdown on how they were able to create a museum space using the Unreal Engine (now on its fourth iteration)  as opposed to an analysis on already existing material. With all this being said, the real thing I learned is that my skills at searching articles can still be refined greatly, as I refuse to believe that the large number of articles that I found are 99% of the material regarding this subject, and while expanding to AR will provide a new set of articles, the VR shouldn't be tossed aside. 

1. Hürst, Wolfgang, de Coninck, Ferdinand, and Xhi Jia Tan. "Complementing Artworks to Create Immersive VR Experiences" ACE '16 Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology, Article No. 34,  (2016) doi>10.1145/3001773.3001806

2. Carrozzino, Marcello, and Massimo Bergamasco. "Beyond Virtual Museums: Experiencing Immersive Virtual Reality in Real Museums" Journal of Cultural Heritage Volume 11, Issue 4, Pages 452-458 (2010)

3. Lepouras, George; Vassilakis, Costas. "Virtual Museums For All: Employing Game Technology for Edutainment" Virtual Reality Vol. 8, Iss. 2,  (2004): 96-106. doi:10.1007/s10055-004-0141-1 

Research Underway

The process of research has really started up! With the focus of education within the National Park Service, I took to The Journal of The National Council on Public History to start. In 2016 they had a special edition for November that dealt with the Park's centennial. In this volume, a wide range of topics was discussed, including education, management, archeology, and outreach. As my research is focused on public education and interaction I read "National Parks for New Audiences: Diversifying Interpretation for Enhanced Contemporary Relevance" by Daniel E. Coslett and Manish Chalana, as well as "Resuscitating the Promise: Reflections on Implementing Innovative and Collaborative History from the Nation's First National Historic Site" by Margo Shea, Maryann Zujewski, and Jonathan Parker. I had originally been planning on doing a self-guided or ranger-led tour experience, and I still might, but "Resuscitating the Promise" has me considering creating a research question and project that relates to broader community work. In this article, the Salem Maritime National Historic Site staff teamed up with local educators to create a program for teachers to experience the park so that can integrate what they learned into the classroom and hopefully bring the class to the park. I will need to spend more time researching the near and far goals of the National Park System, and Seneca Falls especially, to determine how to proceed.

The Public Historian Volume 38 Number 4 Cover
Volume I got my articles from this week

Throughout my research, I have noticed the prevalence of case studies in almost all of the articles. I have also noticed the structure of the article is often framed around the case studies. With the end goal of writing my own thesis, I have been paying much closer attention to the structure and tone people use. It has been interesting how the tone of articles change depending on how involved the author was in the topics being discussed. In "National Parks for New Audiences" the authors were more disconnected and examining what others were doing while the authors of  "Resuscitating the Promise" were directly involved in the project they were discussing.

References:

Coslett, D. E., and M. Chalana. "National Parks for New Audiences: Diversifying Interpretation for Enhanced Contemporary Relevance." The Public Historian38, no. 4 (2016): 101-28. doi:10.1525/tph.2016.38.4.101.

Coslett, D. E., and M. Chalana. "National Parks for New Audiences: Diversifying Interpretation for Enhanced Contemporary Relevance." The Public Historian38, no. 4 (2016): 101-28. doi:10.1525/tph.2016.38.4.101.

Coslett, D. E., and M. Chalana. "National Parks for New Audiences: Diversifying Interpretation for Enhanced Contemporary Relevance." The Public Historian 38, no. 4 (2016): 101-28. doi:10.1525/tph.2016.38.4.101.

Shea, M., M. Zujewski, and J. Parker. "Resuscitating the Promise: Reflections on Implementing Innovative and Collaborative History from the Nations First National Historic Site." The Public Historian 38, no. 4 (2016): 129-48. doi:10.1525/tph.2016.38.4.129.

Shea, M., M. Zujewski, and J. Parker. "Resuscitating the Promise: Reflections on Implementing Innovative and Collaborative History from the Nations First National Historic Site." The Public Historian38, no. 4 (2016): 129-48. doi:10.1525/tph.2016.38.4.129.

Shea, M., M. Zujewski, and J. Parker. "Resuscitating the Promise: Reflections on Implementing Innovative and Collaborative History from the Nations First National Historic Site." The Public Historian38, no. 4 (2016): 129-48. doi:10.1525/tph.2016.38.4.129.

Blog Post #3

Alas, I have decided on a topic for my Senior Thesis. I’ve decided to follow my passion for Buffalo Sports History. My working research theme is “Why build a Sports Museum in Buffalo?: The Importance of Sports Tourism”. As I began the process of looking for peer-reviewed journals and book publications I realized, research takes time. Not every journal that I initially thought would be helpful ended up being useful in supporting my thesis. After, reading “Viewpoint: When Tourism is History: Travel and the Construction of the Past in Cooperstown, New York,” I realized this topic focused more about the revitalizing of the village of Cooperstown rather than the construction of the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is time for me to find journal dedication to the sports hall of fame and museums, such as “Developing a Sport Museum: The Case of Tennis Australia and the Tennis Heritage Collection” by Kellett, Pamm and Anne-Marie Hede. 

    The journal I previously mentioned, “provides background literature from both academic and industry research regarding sport museums that must be analyzed to support decisions about the development and introduction of Tennis Heritage Collection." (1)This journal proves to be valuable because it describes numerous fundamental questions in order to start a new successful museum:      Location? Can the museum create an alliance with the existing team? Target market and audience? 

This article outlines the plan that Janice, the Manager of Special Projects, used to start the Tennis Museum of Australia. 

    The second journal I read is titled “The National Hockey League and Cross-Border Fandom: Fan Substitution and International Boundaries” by Brian Mills and Mark S. Rosentraub. The journal collected data that showed the demographics of Buffalo Sabres Fans, especially pertaining to Canadians, about “15% of attendees at Buffalo Sabres home games travel from Canada” (2). What I found most interesting from this article, is that Canadians seems to unaffected by the obstacles of crossing the border such as tolls and possession of a passport (3). Using this data, it is logical to assume that a fair amount of attendees to the proposed museum will come from Canada, and certain exhibits can be catered to them. This paper is useful for my research because museums want to cater to their demographics. It is essential to know the local sports team demographic because they are mostly like going to be the one visiting the museum.      

 (1) Kellett, Pamm and Anne-Marie Hede. "Developing a Sport Museum: The Case of Tennis Australia and the Tennis Heritage Collection." Sport Management Review 11, no. 1 (2008): 115.

(2) Mills, Brian M. and Mark S. Rosentraub. "The National Hockey League and Cross-Border Fandom: Fan Substitution and International Boundaries." Journal of Sports Economics 15, no. 5 (2014): 497.

(3) Ibid, 509.

Getting Started!

This week, after developing a focus to base our initial research on, we were given the task of reading two articles related to our topic and breaking down their methodologies, themes, and evidence. Since I have chosen to focus on social activism in museums, specifically in relation to the LGBTQIA+ community, I looked at two journal articles which focus on the role of museums in social activism and the internal considerations necessary when undertaking activist exhibitions.

The first article I read, "Action points: What are museums doing to address social, political, economic, and environmental issues?," discusses various instances of museums handling social issues and activism and the various formats that can take depending on the institution. The three main formats the author discusses are the use of performance art to share stories, collecting materials related to activism, and actively taking part in social activism in one's community. The author provides examples of each of these by highlighting successful exhibitions and programs, along with quotations about the importance of museums being present in the dialogue surrounding social activism. Each of these potential formats for engagement was scaffolded by community input and dialogue, inviting members of various communities to create or participate directly in the museum.

The second article I found related to my topic, "The performance on internal conflict and the art of activism," focuses on a singular case study at the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA). In 2009, GoMA exhibited sh[OUT], a show which promoted respect for the LGBTQIA+ community. The show received significant backlash, specifically for one of the works, Untitled 2009, where visitors were invited to write themselves back in to the Bible, as a means of highlighting the marginalization of the LGBTQIA+ community. Its companion outreach exhibition, Made in God's Image, also received much backlash, leading to an adjustment by senior management of the remaining programs which were yet to be opened to the public. This article goes on to address the internal effects of these actions on "practitioners" and the senior management team, featuring quotations from interviews on the emotional and organizational disruption caused by the adjustment of the exhibition mid-way through its execution.

Image from the University of Leicester's evaluation of the Social Justice Program of the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow (GoMA)

These two articles employ effective, though different, methods for addressing their topic; which will be helpful to refer back to when determining how I will frame the content of my thesis. The first articles' intentional use of case studies to emphasize the importance of providing a forum for open discussion and story telling was successful in developing a hopeful and engaging article. While the second article provided me with insight into potential internal issues in museums which may come to play when addressing a community based topic such as social activism, or social issues. The second article also utilized quite a few diagrams to explain some of the more "abstract" concepts integral to her argument. Both provide a unique and interesting perspective of museums as places for both internal and external dialogue, which I feel is helpful in beginning this journey of developing my thesis.


Citations:

Hollows, Victoria, "The performance of internal conflict and the art of activism," Museums Management and Curatorship, 28:1 (2013), 35-53.

Sharp, Rob, "Action points: What are museums doing to address social, political, economic, and environmental issues?," Museums Journal, 116:11 (2016), 28-33.

Articles on 3D Printing in Museums

Mostly, what I learned from the close reading of my two articles is that my topic isn't one that's been explored very much.  Neither of the articles I read, "Flip-flopping museum objects from physical to digital - and back again" and "3D printing and 3D scanning of our ancient history" related exactly to what I want to research for my thesis project.  The first article discussed a case study in which visitors were allowed to scan, remix, and then 3D print sculptures at an art museum in Denmark, while the second was about the importance of having 3D facsimiles and scans of Iraqi artifacts available so that the people of Iraq can understand their cultural heritage.  The articles didn't give me a ton of information on my topic, but both provided insight into how academic articles should be written.
The first article I read ("Flip-flopping museum objects from physical to digital - and back again") was laid out very clearly, with each section defined, and all potentially unknown concepts explained for the reader.  This is the type of article I would like to emulate with my own thesis; something that's clear and understandable for the reader.  The second article I read however, was not particularly clear.  There was little evidence to back up the author's points, and most of the article was devoted to discussing important Iraqi achievements, which was interesting, but not related to how 3D printing can help preserve cultural heritage.  These two articles therefore gave me more insight into the format and shape I want my thesis to take rather than the content itself, but I still feel it was valuable.
Both articles also provided interesting information about the research methods employed.  For the first article, the author detailed how she spent eight weeks observing visitors to the museum who interacted with the 3D remixing and printing of sculptures.  She discussed observing them, in some cases interviewing them, and how this provided insight into the visitor experience.  This also felt important to me, as I'm hoping to complete a visitor experience study as part of my thesis. The second article meanwhile, didn't provide much insight into the research methods employed.  The authors cited some books and journals, but that was all they detailed about their research methods.  This made it hard to gain insight, since I'm not entirely certain what methods they used to do research for this article.
Overall, I found these articles to be interesting, even though they didn't necessarily relate to my topic.  One thing that was really helpful however, was looking at their citations.  Both articles cited sources that I think might be beneficial for me to look at, as they seem to relate more to my topic.  These articles gave me helpful insight into what research methods I can employ for my own project, and I'm excited to continue researching and working to develop my thesis idea.

A photo included in the first article of a visitor 3D scanning one of the museum's sculptures.  Photo by Lise Skytte Jakobsen (article author). From  Flip-flopping museum objects from physical to digital - and back again

Sources:

Article 1: Lisa Skytte Jakobsen, "Flip-flopping museum objects from physical to digital - and back again," Nordisk Museologi 2016, 1 (2016): 121-137

Article 2: Al-Baghdadi, Maher A. R. Sadiq, "3D printing and 3D scanning of our ancient history: Preservation and protection of our cultural heritage and identity," International Journal of Energy and Environment 8, 5 (2017): 441-456

My relationship with academic writing

Up to this point in the semester, much of our time has been spent coming up with thesis topics and learning more about the general format of academic articles. Now, we get to get our hands dirty with research of our own!

There are three key things I’ve taken away from reading academic articles in preparation for my thesis. The first, presentation is just as important as content. One can have the most exciting and innovative findings in the world, but if the findings are buried in unlabeled charts and figures or hidden in long, dense paragraphs, the point gets lost. For example, I read a paper from the International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, “Fill Me App: An Interactive Mobile Game Application for Children with Autism,” which had a lot of amazing content and an interesting subject, but it was difficult to read and the provided charts and figures were rather vague.

Taken from "Fill Me App: An Interactive Mobile
Game Application for Children with Autism."

The second takeaway seems rather obvious, but I learned that having a clear and defined structure for a research paper is highly important. Having a clean structure can allow for better readability, and can allow readers to scan and focus on key points to help understand the article.

The third takeaway is more specific to my topic of study for my thesis. For articles relating to the interaction between individuals with autism and technology in the space of a museum, case studies seem to be the most effective form of evidence. Another article I read, “Educational and digital inclusion for subjects with autism spectrum disorders in 1:1 technological configuration,” effectively used case study evidence throughout the article and, in my opinion, it made each of their assertions easier to understand. For each point they made about the interaction between an autistic child and a certain type of technology, the writers would include an anecdote from their research pertaining to a specific child involved in the study. I think this is a technique I may carry over into my own thesis.

As I've read more museum studies research articles,  I discovered that they don’t all follow the same format or style, which surprised me. Throughout my time as a student, much of my experience with scholarly articles related to museums can be summed up in three words: dense, heavy essays. However, reading more contemporary work has shown me that the academic writing for museum studies can be just as diverse as the field itself. I look forward to making my own contributions to the field.

1. Marylene S. Eder, John Maruel L. Diaz, Joanne Ruth S. Madela, Marife U. Mag-usara
and Dhally Dith M. Sabellano, “Fill Me App: An Interactive Mobile Game Application for Children with Autism,” International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies 10, no. 3 (2016): 56-63.

2. Lucila Maria Costi Santarosa and Debora Conforto, “Educational and digital inclusion for subjects with autism spectrum disorders in 1:1 technological configuration,” Computers in Human Behavior 60 (2016): 293-300.

Blog Post III: The Merit of Close Reading

I am very excited to begin researching for my thesis topic (the potential role of museums and archives in language preservation). I have looked up information these past few years on endangered languages and their revitalization efforts out of personal curiosity and for various projects. But, I look forward to continuing this research on a much deeper level and with the close reading skills emphasized in Research Methods.This semester, as we approach our readings with specific questions (what is the research question? methodologies? evidence? etc), I have been more cognizant of the methods I was already utilizing when conducting close readings. Throughout the years of being in school, I have been trained to search for an author’s argument or thesis, his/her main supporting points, and conclusion. Therefore, it is neat to now be more aware or mindful of the physical setup of a paper in addition to the content. For instance, it is interesting to compare the structures of all the articles we read, and how the structure helps convey an author’s argument, or muddles it. For Museum Studies in particular, the structure seems to be more open-ended compared to the strict layout of a biology lab report, for example. Overall, I’ve enjoyed using the strategies I’ve already learned in combination with new ones and looking at how a reading’s content and layout complement each other to serve an author’s purpose.

The two journal articles I read related to language preservation and endangered languages had both similar and different structures. The first is titled, "Endangered Languages, Endangered Knowledge" by Luisa Maffi. Based on the title, I figured the article would delve into the consequences of losing languages with specific case studies. Maffi did emphasize the risks of losing languages, but she spoke about it in broader terms, relating linguistic diversity to biodiversity. She established an analogy between "conservation linguistics" and "conservation biology" [1] to convey to readers the importance of an interdisciplinary approach. The article was written in 2002, shortly after the emergence of language preservation as a priority in the 1990s, so Maffi considers how the field could grow to be most successful. Similarly, in "Language Revitalization and Language Pedagogy: New Teaching and Learning Strategies," Leanne Hinton takes a compare and contrast approach. She defines four types of languages: foreign, majority, heritage, and endangered languages. She outlines the primary goals of their teaching programs, learner's motives, and influence on language to demonstrate how the curricula and teaching methods for majority languages (such as Spanish or English) cannot be easily applied to endangered languages. In the case of endangered languages, there are challenges like lack of fluent teachers and lack of resources in small communities. Therefore, "communities, families and individuals are creating new and unique strategies all the time to bring their endangered languages back into use" [2]. One example is Twf (as referred to by Hinton), an organization in Wales promoting family and parent programs with the aim of introducing Welsh into the home. Hinton's article structure is different from Maffi in that it has clearer transitions with headings and subheadings, and a separate abstract, introduction, body, and conclusion.

Here is a screenshot from the Welsh program discussed by Hinton. They highlight their long-term goal of one million Welsh speakers by 2050. 

Notes:
[1] Luisa Maffi, “Endangered languages, endangered knowledge,” International Social Science Journal, Vol. 54, No. 173 (2002): page 387. Wiley Online Library.
[2] Leanne Hinton, “Language revitalization and language pedagogy: new teaching and learning strategies,” Language and Education, Vol. 25, No. 4 (2011): page 317. EBSCOhost.

Blog post 3- close readings

     For this week, I read two academic articles related to two different forms of German dancing.
"The Migration and Globalization of Schuhplattler Dance: A Sociological Analysis" written by Alexandra Kolb focuses on the "shoe slapping" form of dance known as the schuhplattler (as the title suggests), while the second article I read, "Folk Dances in the German Club" written by Herbert Schueler focuses on German folk dances. While both styles of dance are authentic to German culture, they are very different from each other. I'll discuss those differences in my thesis.


     What I've learned about close readings of both of these articles is that while they may be discussing similar topics, the writing style that each author uses is very different. Both of the journals that the articles were published in are peer reviewed journals, however, one article
is written with a more academic or scientific style (Kolb) while the other is much more casual (Schueler).

     I've also found that the research methods used in museum studies tends to lean more toward human interaction rather than the scientific trial and/or data set methods. Museum studies methods are more likely to be case studies, interviews, archival research, and interviews.

A high energy schuhplattler dance. (photo courtesy of http://www.dgemuetlichen.com/performance/)

A lower energy folk dance. (photo courtesy of https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-performers-bring-German-folk-dance-12401076.php)

Bibliography-

Kolb, Alexandra. "The Migration and Globalization of Schuhplattler Dance: A Sociological Analysis." Cultural Sociology 7, no. 1 (2012): 39-55. doi:10.1177/1749975512453658


Schueler, Herbert. "Folk Dances in the German Club." The German Quarterly 11, no. 4 (November 1938): 206-12. Accessed September 24, 2018. doi:10.2307/399999.

History Live!

The idea of creating a character for a living history museum was suggested to me by Tina in the early days of sophomore year, and I've been running with that ever since. Currently my idea is creating a costume and possibly a persona, or using historic methods to create an outfit and documenting the process. I've always been fascinated by living history museums, and my ultimate goal is to work at Colonial Williamsburg, which happens to be the largest open air history museum in the world. Thankfully I have a friend who is majoring in Historical Costuming!

The Power of Online Knowledge

For my Senior Thesis project I am looking to do a project that involves the digitization of Primary Sources and the ways that these digitized sources can be displayed in an online medium. As I mentioned in my previous post I was involved with a project last semester that involved the digitization of 30 plus Primary Sources and the creation of a website to view these documents. This was to be a companion for a book as it would allow readers to follow along with the research done by the author as they read through the book. Using Wordpress a site was created that allowed readers to follow along chapter by chapter to look at the same sources that the author used. It also allowed users to sort sources based on their subject matter. This project has yet to go live because the book is not yet published but eventually productivitymachines.com will go live and bring information directly to users in their homes.

This project had a great impact on me as I realized that bringing information to the masses was a very useful tool that can help enrich people's experiences. I also realized that while this project was done to be a companion to a book, the same concept could be applied to the museum world. My goal for this project is to find a collection of information to digitize and be put into an online exhibit and then create a portal to allow people to view this information. I have been working in the IT field for about 4 years now and I want to bring my major and my current work together to help enrich the experiences of museum goers. I would like to experiment with different ways of presenting this information. There have been multiple projects in the past that have looked into the ways that digitization can be done and how the process can be optimized. I do not have much experience in the actual digitization process but I would like to explore the different ways that information can be shared on the internet and the easiest ways for users to view and access this knowledge. I would like to create multiple sites/portals that people could use to find out which one enriches the experience of the users the most. This idea is obviously not fully fledged out just yet but I am open for suggestions!

Improving the museum experience for children with autism

For my thesis, I want to explore how to create a sensory-friendly museum experience for children with autism without making a separate and inherently different experience from neuro-typical children. The inspiration behind my thesis is my little cousin Leo. He was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum a few years ago.

Leo loves to learn and often is very hands-on when he discovers new things. I thought he would love Strong Museum, but I didn't think about the sensory overload that would happen as soon as we walked in the door. We were in and out in about an hour and I felt horrible.

I wanted him to have the chance to explore a museum that brought me joy when I was younger, but without an established sensory-friendly day for children with autism* I was at a loss of what to do. However, it got me thinking: what if there was a way I could create a sensory-friendly experience that could be had at any time using a personal device? It would be fairly accessible, it could be adjusted to individual preferences based on what the child is sensitive to and it wouldn't necessarily involve a lot of cost in regards to technology once the app or program is created.

Ideally, I would like to create a prototype for this app, detail the process of creating and curating the content and craft my thesis around the following questions: Can museums use personal devices to create a more inclusive, sensory-friendly visitor experience for children on the autism spectrum? Rather than creating a separate experience for children on the autism spectrum, could personal devices allow a sensory-friendly visitor experience within the museum's regular hours of operation?

I'm excited about pursuing this topic. Any feedback is welcomed and appreciated!

Thanks for reading!

*Strong has piloted a program called Sensory-Friendly Sundays this year. At the time of my initial visit with Leo, this option was unavailable to me.

Combining Museum Studies and DHSS

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I'm hoping to combine my Museum Studies senior thesis with my DHSS Capstone project.  Because of this, I'd ideally like to do some sort of project that incorporates DHSS elements with Museum Studies concepts, and then write my thesis about the process of working on that project.  So far, I have one idea on how to do this, but I'd love feedback or any other suggestions if anyone has them!
My idea for a DHSS/Museum Studies project would be a visitor engagement project centered around 3D scans and printing.  As we've all discussed before in our classes, visitors have a desire to touch items that they encounter in museums, but due to the nature of these objects, that usually isn't possible.  We've also discussed before the idea of scanning and then 3D printing objects so that visitors could physically engage with them, and how that might enhance the visitor experience.  For my thesis, I was thinking of actually putting this idea into action: would placing a 3D scanned and printed version of a museum object near that object in an actual museum enhance the visitor experience?  Would it retract from it?
The process for this project would involve me finding a willing institution, either at RIT or in the area, that is willing to let me 3D scan and then print one of the items in their collection.  RIT has the tools to do this on campus, and I know people who would be able to assist me with this part of the project.  From there, I'd place my 3D print of the object near where the original object is displayed, and do a visitor engagement study into how this affects the museum experience.
My main concern with this project is whether or not it incorporates enough DHSS ideas to be able to count for that degree as well as Museum Studies.  I'd need to go and talk to program heads and advisers if I decide to make this project a reality, but I'm thinking I could also create some online component to the experience in order to bring more DHSS elements into it.  Maybe a project website or a separate blog tracking its progress, or the creation of an online questionnaire for the visitor survey portion of it.
I don't have this idea fully thought out right now, so if anyone has any suggestions or comments on it I'd love to hear them!! 

Social Activism and the Modern Museum

As I said in my previous post I have a very strong passion for social activism. The first museum studies course I took at RIT was a Public History class which sparked my interest in museum controversy. Since then, many of my classes have continued this trend of noting key moments where museums either paved the way for progress or fell short.

Thinking about my thesis topic this past summer, I contemplated focusing on a simple archival project or something that would apply the experience I already have in galleries and archives. After meeting with a professor to discuss ideas, I decided that her suggestion to look at the role of museums in societal discourse, specifically when it comes to social activism, would be most stimulating for me. I intend to look at past case studies such as: Mining the Museum, Hide/Seek, and other key instances of activism in museums to develop my literary review.

As a potential case study I would like to look at the upcoming anniversary of the gay liberation movement. During my time at the Newseum, I helped to catalog a portion of new accessions for their upcoming Stonewall exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the gay liberation movement. I would like to use Rochester's iteration of this as a potential case study for my thesis. I believe that I would be able to begin establishing a precedent, or best practices, based on this case study, for museums seeking to address social issues within their community.

Image of people outside of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, NY. Sourced from Stuart, Tessa, "Full Moon Over the Stonewall: Howard Smith's Account of the Stonewall Riots," The Village Voice, 26 June 2015. https://www.villagevoice.com/2015/06/26/full-moon-over-the-stonewall-howard-smiths-account-of-the-stonewall-riots/

Thesis Idea and Case Study

Hello! I'm Kaye Knoll and my thesis is focused on a case study on Ganondagan: how they came to be what they are today, and how that can be applied to be used for the Delaware Native Americans. I will be looking into the history, policies, and process that made Ganondagan what it is today. The presence of Native American tribes in Delaware are practically non existent and there is not much information or resources about them in the state. Also I am not positive it is mandatory in the Delaware state curriculum to teach about them, thus why I was not personally exposed to the information and am frustrated that I wasn't. I want to help preserve these tribes history, languages, and cultures and to be able to make the information more widely available and accessible to Delawareans across the state.

http://www.nanticoke-lenape.info/
http://ganondagan.org/

Kate's Thesis Ideas: Nature at Seneca Falls

For my thesis I would like to partner with the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls. As I am primarily interested in educational outreach and programming, I would like to work with them to improve existing, or to create new, educational experiences for their visitors. Depending on the park's needs this could go in many different directions.

I am especially interested in developing a ranger guided tour or self guided tour about the nature near the historic home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. I have been considering making didactic text displays or a brochure discussing the local birds. This semester I am taking an ornithology class and I am involved in Dr. Pagano's research lab studying migratory songbird nutrition in the local area. I could draw upon these experiences and additional research to develop a birding guide for the Seneca Falls region. Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge is nearby to the historic park and may be another useful resource to draw upon. Another idea is to have a similar guided tour (either self or ranger-led) but for the local fauna. In addition to researching the local plants for identification, I would connect the plants to their historic importance. I could look at the native versus invasive species and how invasive species were introduced and the impact that had on the ecology and economics of the area. Another point of interest is looking at how plants were used medicinally and culturally during Elizabeth Cady Stanton's lifetime, including any direct connections to her and other contemporary women's rights activists.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton House
Source: National Park Service

Senior Thesis Ideas

Hello there, this is Alexandra once again! I have a bit of a dilemma. There are numerous interests that I have within the museum realm. To name a few topics of interest includes exhibition design, collection care, teaching the importance of history, the subject of Anthropology and Archeology. Alas, the time has come to pick a singular interest of mine and transform it into a research paper and project. I have a few ideas, but I do not know whether they are research worthy thus I am inquiring your help. 

    My first idea is the need for science museums all across the country, especially in Western New York, to create a new separate museum dedicated its anthropology collection. Cultural groups are often offended with their representation in a place where science experiments are performed. Many museum exhibitions display these cultures only in their primal state. These permanent exhibitions fail to show the evolution from prehistoric to modern day. This issue damages not only the museum’s representation, but it damages its relationship with it, visitors, near and far. With further research, I will explain the positive benefits for museums to collaborate with its cultural communities. Then I would proceed to create a plan on how the science museums in Rochester and Buffalo can successfully build a new institution dedicated explicitly to Anthropology and History. 

    My last idea revolves around my professional goal to develop a museum from the ground up. As a proud Buffalonian, I understand how important the professional sports teams in my community. The fans have this pure love for the game that we continue to support the team endlessly regardless of poor success. Buffalo has been labeled one of the best fans in America. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the city and the professional team to celebrate their dedicated fans by creating the Buffalo Sports Museum. My research focuses on the benefits of developing a new museum economically, socially, and politically in a city. For the project component of the research, I would create an outline of a 10-year plan. This plan will include finical and funding strategies, building and exhibitions designs, collection management policies, and potential partners. I have recently learned that there is a profound collector that have an impressive collection of Buffalo sports memorabilia that has a “museum” in his basement. Of course, I would reach out to him to collaborate on expanding his vision and make it more accessible for the public.

Buffalo Bills fans dedicated to supporting their football team. #Fortheloveofthegame

Here is the link to the existing Buffalo Sports Museum: 

https://www.buffalorising.com/2018/05/for-any-buffalo-sports-fan-a-trip-to-the-greater-buffalo-sports-hall-of-fame-is-a-must/

Links of Buffalo Fans professing their love to our teams:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/131737-the-heart-of-the-buffalo-sports-fan

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/buffalo-sports-fan

Blog Post II: Senior Thesis, Where Museum Studies and Linguistics Collide

For my senior thesis project, I want to combine my interests in linguistics and museum studies. For as long as I can remember, I have always been intrigued by language, both from a linguistic perspective and from a writer's perspective. Since sixth grade, I've been studying Spanish, and it is my immersion here at RIT. I also have a minor in Language Science. One topic touched upon in my classes is endangered languages. There are approximately 6,900 distinct languages in the world, and around half of them are in danger of dying. One film we watched, titled The Linguists, follows two linguists on their journey documenting a few of these languages, and I would recommend it to anyone interested. An example I can give of an endangered language is Scottish Gaelic, a language that I am trying to learn online because of my family heritage and because of its threatened status. I've known of Scottish Gaelic since middle school because my aunt gifted me and my sister a MacLaren crest necklace, one that I often wear and get asked about. On it is written Creag an Tuirc, which means "The Boar's Rock" in Scottish Gaelic. For my thesis, I will probably focus on Scottish Gaelic as a case study. Overall, language preservation is vital because language is a cornerstone of society and culture. Given that museums are cultural institutions that dedicate themselves to preservation and education, I wondered just how museums and archives could help the language preservation effort. Language is essential in the telling of stories and in the safeguarding of tradition and culture, as we see with oral history. Therefore, although museum studies and linguistics may initially seem like disparate subjects, they aren't. Historical linguists may consult old transcripts, documents, and writing systems that are part of museum collections, for example. In summary, the goal of my thesis is to explore the places where museums and linguistics intersect, and how they can work together to help protect the world's endangered languages. I want to introduce the new perspective of preserving language, not just artifact.

This is a screenshot from The Endangered Languages Project, and I clicked on Scottish Gaelic as an example. They provide the language's status and number of speakers.

Thesis idea- German Cultural Heritage in Rochester

Last fall, for Dr. Foti's Cultural Heritage class, we were assigned a final paper in which we were able to choose any topic in cultural heritage that we wanted. After coming up with a few topics that I felt I could discuss with some relative expertise in those areas, the phrase that I had heard many times before in my previous classes stuck in my head- "write about what you know about" and my topic became clear.

Before I started my education in Museum Studies at RIT I was very involved in the German community in Rochester. I started out as a dancer with the Schuhplattler Verein Heidengold (SVH), quickly became their recording secretary, Vorplattlerine (responsible for leading and teaching the females in the group), and eventually the Vorstand (President) of the group. In addition to my roles in the SVH I also became a member of the Rochester Touristen Verein (sometimes referred to as "the nature group" although it's much more than that) and for two years I was either the chairwoman or the co-chairperson for their annual Blossom Fest. In addition to this, I was also elected to be 2nd Vice President for the Federation of German American Societies (FGAS) with the duty of being the chairwoman for their German Fest currently held in Spencerport. In addition to these duties, I also have been honored by the FGAS with a citation for all of my work with the SVH as well as being selected as the princessen (princess) of the federation's 2014 Mardi Gras (also known as Karnival).
Being involved in the German community in Rochester for over 12 years has given me great insights into the the challenges they face including recruiting new members (as there is a large generation gap in many of the clubs which has resulted in multiple clubs folding) as well as making their presence in the Rochester community more widely known.

Drawing on this, I decided to write my final paper for the Cultural Heritage class on the German community in Rochester. After touching on just one aspect of one of the dance groups in the area I had enough for the requirements for the paper, leaving much more to be explored at a later time. Enough to complete a thesis. And so, a thesis idea was born.

My thesis will discuss promoting and preserving German cultural heritage in Rochester. I will discuss the history of Germans in the Rochester area, the challenges they face, and what they are doing to keep the German cultural heritage alive. I will mainly discuss the groups within the FGAS but will touch on their networking with other organizations outside of the German community as well as what other businesses and organizations are doing to promote German cultural heritage. Primarily, my focus will be on the dance groups associated with the FGAS, their authenticity and how it preserves German cultural heritage, what determines their authenticity, and the connection to the Gauverband Nordamerika and UNESCO's international standards.

This photo features three different dance groups that represent the Allgau region in Germany- one from Texas, one from Germany, and the third is the SVH from Rochester. Because each group from the United States adheres to the standards set by Gauverband Nordamerika, they are indistinguishable from the group directly from the Allgau region in Germany.

Museum Studies

Living in New York city all my life with all of its museums, and the frequent trips abroad to various locations with their own varied museums (especially Spain, where some of my relatives live), to say that I've been to quite a few museums... would be one way to put it, I suppose. Museums related to technology and media jumped out at me the most, given my interests in the two, but almost all were great to visit. Almost being the key word, I didn't really like art museums when I was younger, but even those I got a real appreciation for them as I got older. Still have an extreme distaste for the works of Jackson Pollock, though, and some trends of modern art are starting to become a bit disconcerting. But that's getting slightly off topic. Over time, I thought about how interesting some of the inner mechanisms behind closed doors could be, the differences there must be across all these subjects, yet core similarities at the same time. But still, I was attending an engineering high school doing engineering stuff prepping for an engineering degree at RIT, things seemed good. Some time and an unbelievable number of supreme embarrassments across many different coding languages later, I knew I had to switch majors, immediately. So I sifted through, and I found the Museum studies major, a major that, admittedly, I didn't even know was a thing that existed prior to that. But when finding out about it, I thought "that's the one". And I was correct. So here I am, diving right into the museum world, no looking back, only forward, a trek that has gone very well.

Standing with my mother and brother on the roof of the Ghibli museum, alongside a statue of a Laputan robot