Education & Interpretation

Museums as Catalysts for Empathy-Building and Social Change

Permalink: https://www.eventscribe.com/2019/AAMers/fsPopup.asp?mode=presInfo&PresentationID=490130

In our ever-changing and divisive world, how can museums help people understand each other, our shared histories, and our environment? By combining artifacts, artworks, and animal species with inquiry-based engagement strategies, museums and zoos are fostering empathy. Learn from three institutions that are developing approaches to create connections, encourage perspective-sharing, offer new ways of thinking, and ultimately change behaviors.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe collections-based empathy-building strategies and practices from an art museum, a history center, and a zoo
• Develop cross-disciplinary ideas and approaches for engaging audiences and fostering empathy.
• Define ways in which museums and zoos are measuring/demonstrating the impact of empathy-based engagement strategies

Moderator(s)

• 

  Karleen Gardner

  Director of Learning Innovation
  Minneapolis Institute of Art

Panelist(s)

• 

  Jeanine Pollard

  Research and Project Manager for the Center for Empathy and the Visual Arts
  Minneapolis Institute of Art
• KW

  Kate Whitman

  Vice President of Author and Family Programs
  Atlanta History Center
• 

  Wei Ying Wong

  Vice President Learning and Innovation
  Woodland Park Zoo