More resources
To learn more about empathy in practice we recommend the books, articles, blogs listed below as well as following our social media:
Happy reading!
Publications & Downloads
Empathetic Museum Maturity Model & Rubic | Modelo de Madurez & Rúbrica | Rubrique du Modèle de Maturité (pdf)
Access to our maturity model framework and self-assessment rubric.
The Empathetic Museum: A New Institutional Identity
Curator Journal article unpacking the past, present, and future of empathy as best practice.
Confronting our Whiteness: Our First Steps Toward Systemic Change (Medium.com)
A behind the scenes look at ongoing transformations at the Delaware Art Museum by Stacey Mann, Saralyn Rosenfield, Amelia Wiggins (on our blog)
Steps for Building Empathetic Museums (pdf)
Handout from AAM 2015’s Empathy in Mission and Practice: Why Should We Care
MASS Action Toolkit (pdf)
A comprehensive guidebook to the theories and tools for building and practicing equity within the museum industry.
Blogs
Museum Commons
Gretchen Jennings’ blog frequently discusses Empathetic Museum issues.
Museum 2.0
Industry blog advocates participatory museum practice and community building.
The Incluseum
The Incluseum blog, founded by Aletheia Wittman and Rose Paquet Kinsley “advances new ways of being a museum through critical discourse, community building and collaborative practice related to inclusion in museums.”
Museums and Race: Transformation and Justice
This site reports on the activities of the Museums and Race 2016 initiative, which grew out of a convening in Chicago in January 2016 to discuss issues related to museums, racism, privilege, and oppression.
Hashtags
#EmpatheticMuseum
Follow updates from The Empathetic Museum and conversations about related topics and conference sessions.
#MuseumsRespondToFerguson
Twitter chat moderated by @adriannerussell and @aleiabrown at 2 pm Eastern time on the third Wednesday of every month; and resources and conversations regarding museums and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
#MuseumsandRace
Follow updates from the Museums and Race team and conversations about related topics and conference sessions.
Media
“The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism”
Verna Myers discusses unconscious bias at TedX Beacon Street
The Museum Life: The Empathetic Museum
Gretchen Jennings talks in general terms about the concept of empathetic museums:
The Museum Life: Following Up on Ferguson
Melanie Adams, Samuel W. Black, Adrienne Russell, and Gretchen Jennings talk about #MuseumsRespondToFerguson
The Museum Life: Design Thinking – Putting Empathy to Work
Dana Mitroff Silvers talks about empathy and Design Thinking
The Museum Life: Museums as Healers
Rainey Tisdale talks about her work on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing within the context of empathetic museums
Organizations
Social Justice Alliance for Museums
Center for Building a Culture of Empathy
Edwin Rutsch’s project to build empathy across society at large, with lots of resources and opportunities to engage
Ashoka’s Empathy Initiative
Concrete strategies for building empathy
UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center
Resources on the science of empathy–why it matters, how to cultivate it, and an individual empathy assessment
Readings
AAM (2010). Demographic Transformation and the Future of Museums: Trends & Implications.
AAM (2008). Museums & Society 2034: Trends and Potential Futures.
Allport, G. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. New York: Doubleday Anchor. Chapters 2, 3, 4.
Aronson, E. (1992). The Social Animal. New York: W. Freeman & Company. See Chapter 4.
Cullinan, D. (2017, March 22). Civic Engagement: Why Cultural Institutions Must Lead the Way. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/civic_engagement_why_cultural_institutions_must_lead_the_way
Gurian, E. H. (2006). Civilizing the Museum: The Collected Works of Elaine Heumann Gurian. New York, London: Routledge.
Gurian, E. H. (2014). Intentional Civility. Curator, The Museum Journal 57 (4).
Kipling, R. (1923). We and They (poem)
Museums and Race 2016: Transformation and Justice. (2016). Reading List. https://museumsandrace2016.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/reading-list/
Newman, A. and McLean, F. (2004). Capital and the Evaluation of the Museum Experience. In International Journal of Cultural Studies. London: SAGE Publications.
The Empathetic Museum 