Join the Center for Archival Futures and Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Program at the University of Maryland for this upcoming hybrid event on Friday, March 17th!
Museums in the Infodemic
A Paperback Book Launch Featuring Behind-the-Scenes Stories
March 17 | 11:00 AM–12:30 PM EST | HBK 2119 & Virtual | Registration Required
Snacks will be provided!
Abstract:
In honor of the paperback release of Extinct Monsters to Deep Time, the Center for Archival Futures and the Museum Scholarship and Material Culture program at the University of Maryland invite you to a critical conversation about the shifting responsibilities of museum practitioners in an era of information (and misinformation) overload—and how this is changing the way that museums communicate with the public. Renowned experts in collections and exhibitions will join us to share behind-the-scenes stories and discuss their efforts to convey hard truths about our shared past, present, and future in the current information landscape.
Speakers:
Ariana Curtis, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Steven Luckert, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Diana Marsh, University of Maryland, Author of Extinct Monsters to Deep Time
Jennifer Shannon (Moderator), National Museum of the American Indian
Lindsay Zarwell, National Geographic
About the Book:
Extinct Monsters to Deep Time: Conflict, Compromise, and the Making of Smithsonian’s Fossil Halls is an exploration of the growing friction between the research and outreach functions of museums in the 21st century. Describing participant observation and historical research at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History as it prepared for its largest-ever exhibit renovation, Deep Time, the author provides a grounded perspective on the inner-workings of the world’s largest natural history museum and the social processes of communicating science to the public.
