Some Further Thoughts...

In my experience, it's always at the end of an academic project that you realize all the other things you could have done and/or paths you could have taken with your research and work.  Not because you were lazy or close-minded about your project and research, but rather that many (some might argue all) academic projects are part of a larger dialogue, and as such they can never truly be complete.

This is the situation I found myself in this morning as I was putting the finishing touches on my final thesis paper, Recommendations for Redesign: Revising the Rochester Museum and Science Center's Native Peoples of the Americas Exhibit.  As a result, I thought of a few possible directions my research and project could have moved in had I had more time to continue with this project before I graduate. 

• Further research in the Rochester Museum and Science Center's (RMSC) institutional records to gain a better understanding of the history and development of Native Peoples of the Americas and other exhibits at the RMSC, and to resolve some questions left unanswered in my paper, such as specific dates and persons responsible for different parts of the exhibit.
• As another/further project, perhaps research and write a more comprehensive history of the RMSC than the one I utilized in writing my paper.
• Develop basic, but formal evaluative criteria for both exhibits in need of redesign, and exhibits featuring representations of Native Americans, then use them to re-evaluate the exhibits/institutions I did my case studies on.
• Visit the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and its satellite institution, the George Gustav Heye Center, in New York, NY, which I did a brief case study on, but was not able to visit in person.

While I wouldn't change anything about my thesis writing process (because that's what it was meant to be, a process), these are simply some possible expansions I would consider undertaking.  Perhaps in future, someone will take my work and improve upon it by doing one or all of these things, and add to the ongoing dialogue about Native representation and redesign in museum spaces.

New Semester, New Progress, New Goals

This is the beginning of my final semester here at RIT, and also the beginning of the homeward stretch towards completing my thesis.  As this is my first post of the semester, I thought it would be appropriate to take this opportunity to provide an update on what I was able to accomplish over the winter break, and what I still have yet to accomplish.

To briefly review, I am exploring the ways in which the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s (RMSC) Native Peoples of the Americas exhibit can be redesigned to represent native cultures more accurately and fully. This exploration will take several forms including exhibit surveys, research into the history of Native American collections and representation in American museums and suggested methods for the redesign of Native American exhibits that have been put forth by museum professionals, historians, and civil rights activists over the past 25 years, an interview with the Senior Director for Collections and Exhibits at the RMSC, and several visitor observation sessions.  The intended result of this work will be a series of recommendations for the RMSC’s collections and exhibitions staff to consider as they work to redesign Native Peoples over the next several years.

Over break I was able to return to the RMSC to speak with Kathryn Murano, Senior Director for Collections and Exhibits, in order to gain a better understanding of the thematic direction she and the RMSC see Native Peoples moving towards over the next few years.  While I was there, I also conducted a brief visitor observation session, which provided some interesting insights/considerations for me to look into as I continue my work (for example, young children need steps-ups to view the dioramas in the exhibit, however they are an impediment to people who need to use wheelchairs or walkers-- this is important to consider when making recommendations of how to better accommodate all visitors within the space, so they can all learn from and enjoy the exhibit equally).

I also visited the Ganondagan State Historic Site in Victor, NY, which I intend to compare/contrast to Native Peoples, not only because it offers an example of Native Americans representing themselves in a museum space, but because it reflects newer trends in exhibition design in general, and provides a number of interesting solutions/ideas that could be incorporated into Native Peoples.

With regards to my remaining goals, beyond the actual thesis writing process, I would like to visit the RMSC again in February in order to complete one last round of visitor observations.  I intend to visit on a weekend, as I haven’t visited the exhibit during the weekend yet (my previous visits occurred over a holiday weekend in the afternoon and on a Friday morning), and I want to see if the museum attracts a slightly different visitor pool on the weekends than during the week, and if so, what their interactions with and in the exhibit are like.

In addition, I intend to virtually “tour” several exhibits from the National Museum of the American Indian or NMAI (which has branches in both New York City and Washington, DC), in order to see how a museum focused solely on Native American representation (some might argue the museum of Native American representation) presents various themes and topics, both from an intellectual (content) and technical (design) standpoint.

I look forward to continuing the thesis process and seeing it completed in the (very) near future.