History at the Table: Let the Conversations Begin!

In April,  I'll be joining a dozen or so historians in a convening of the Public Historians and Local Food Movement Working Group at the National Council on Public History annual conference in Ottawa, Canada.  The working group is led by Michelle Moon and Cathy Stanton, who've encouraged us to begin the conversation through a series of entries on Cathy's blog.  Mine, inspired by the ablove photo that came through by Facebook feed one morning (thanks Katya Kuchar)  explores the connections between the personal and the political as we think about food--in Ukraine, in the United States, and in museums.  For the full post (and other great posts as well) please go here.

I'm really looking forward to the conversation about the ways in which public historians and museums might connect more deeply to an understanding of food--but it does require, as I titled the post, moving beyond the butter churn.   How does your museum connect to stories of food and place?

Got an Idea? Let's Talk

The first couple months of 2012 have been pretty quiet, with a fair amount of finishing up reports and grant-writing, both of which keep me pretty close to my messy desk.  But starting next week,  I'll be out and about much more.  So this post is an open offer--if you have a project you're interested in starting and want someone to bounce ideas off,  if you want a little career advice,  or if you want to chew over what the museum field is right now and what it might be,  below are some places and times where I'd be happy to sit down over a cup of coffee (on me, even!)  and chat.  And of course, you can always find me here.

A colleague gently nudged me last fall telling me that I wasn't very good in this blog at telling people what I actually do--and encouraged tell readers that I actually work for organizations, in addition to writing the blog.  What might I work with you on?  Projects that are about shaping compelling narratives in either an exhibition or historic site;  developing new skills;  and listening to communities through prototyping, community conversations or other activities that connect your organization with the diverse communities you work in.   I like experimentation and like working with museums and historic sites that are ready to change things up,  to try something new (and I like to have fun).

So, if you're contemplating that leap into the new and want to talk about it,  here's where you can find me in person:

February 27-28,  Indianapolis, IN, facilitating a train-the-trainer session for AASLH's StEPs program.

March 5-6,  Regina and Swift Current, Saskatchewan, facilitating a workshop on exhibit development for the Museums Association of Saskatchewan

March 8-9,  New York City—so what exhibits should I make sure to see?

March 12,  Long Island, facilitating a workshop for the Long Island Museum Association

March 16-20,  Washington, DC, for a meeting at AAM and lots of museum-going.  Again, what should I not miss?

April 22-24,  at the Museums in Conversation conference, Albany, NY doing a session on career planning with colleagues Anne Ackerson, Marianne Bez, Gwen Spicer, and Christopher Clarke

April 25-26,  Burlington, VT, for a talk with Sarah Crow about the Pickle Project at Shelburne Farms

April 28-May 2 at the AAM meeting in Minneapolis participating in a session on memorials and memorial museums and one on career planning.

May 21-22,  Middletown,  CT,  facilitating a workshop for the CT StEPs program of the Connecticut Humanities Council and the Connecticut League of Historical Organizations

Photo:  Uncle Chicken on Flickr

International Public History Working Group

At the TICCIH conference in Freiberg, Germany, I met Anna Adamek, Curator of Natural Resources and Industrial Design at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. She's active in the National Council on Public History, which focuses primarily on North America. After our return, she shared this call for participation in a working group at NCPH's 2010 meeting in Portland, Oregon which will explore the ways in which public history discussions could be considered worldwide--hoping that I could help connect her to colleagues in Ukraine and elsewhere. So below, the call for participation.

This International Public History working group is part of an initiative by the NCPH International Task Force to provide a forum for a dialogue among public historians worldwide. Over the last three decades public history has been proliferating in North America. The Task Force would like to explore the state of public history around the world, and opportunities for greater international cooperation in the field. Is there a need for an international organization in public history, for universal standards, and a strong global lobby? How can the NCPH and the Public Historian serve the international community?

The facilitators invite the participation of public history professionals from around the world in the working group on internationalization of public history. Through a moderated discussion, the contributors will explore the need for and benefits of formal international cooperation in the field. Each participant will be asked to outline the state of public history in their country, and present examples of the best practices or model institutions from their home countries. Next, the participant will be asked to present their views on bringing public history professionals across the globe together. The working group will then put forward a list of non-binding recommendations for the International Task Force.

If you're interested in participating in Portland, or from afar, please contact me and I'll put you in touch with Anna. Our session at TICCIH discussed the need to expand our global perspectives in industrial history--and I'm looking forward to the ways in which NCPH might consider global perspectives as well.