The question of how museums can support constructive community discussion and action on pressing, often divisive, social issues is receiving intensified attention—as are the barriers limiting museums’ roles as change agents. By examining museums’ 20th-century past and more recent work in civic dialogue, the group aims to bring historical perspective and critical edge to contemporary opportunities and challenges. For more information on this project, visit: http://ncph.org/phc/ncph-working-groups/museums-civic-discourse-2016-working-group/ #MuseumsCivicDiscourse This slide deck guided discussion for Working Group #2 on 3/17/2016 at the National Council on Public History Conference in Baltimore, MD. Facilitators: Elena Gonzales, Independent Scholar Jennifer Scott, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Robin Grenier, University of Connecticut Nicole Ivy, American Alliance of Museums Clarissa Ceglio, University of Connecticut Discussants: La Tanya Autry, Yale University Art Gallery Aleia Brown, Middle Tennessee State University Rachel Feinmark, Lower East Side Tenement Museum Joan Fragaszy Troyano, Smithsonian Institution Lyra Monteiro, Rutgers University-Newark Porchia Moore, University of South Carolina Laura Schiavo, The George Washington University

1. Museums & Civic Discourse:
Past, Present & Emerging Futures
Note: The following slides from Working Group #2 were presented on 3/17/2016
at the National Council on Public History Conference in Baltimore, MD
Facilitators –
Elena Gonzales, Jennifer Scott, Nicole Ivy,
Robin Grenier and Clarissa Ceglio
Discussants -
La Tanya Autry, Aleia Brown, Rachel Feinmark, Joan Fragaszy
Troyano, Lyra Monteiro, Porchia Moore and Laura Schiavo

2. Welcome! Please fill out an index card:
Reflecting on the themes you identified in
reading across the case statements, pick one
you are passionate about and in one sentence
or phrase tell us why this matters for museum’s
work in civic discourse.

4. Museums & Civic Discourse:
Past, Present & Emerging Futures
Case statements: http://bit.ly/1SOhSdV
#MuseumsCivicDiscourse #NCPH2016 #WG2
With support from UConn’s

5. Open, Engaged Research
aka Thinking Aloud in Public with Others
Iterative process to identify core issues, gaps & omissions
Open, collaborative discourse that invites as many
constituents as possible into the process.
Digital expression and sharing of this process
Digital, open-access volume
Annotated bibliography - Zotero

6. Civic Discourse – a working definition
Social forms of collaborative meaning-making
around topics and issues of importance to a
community that open pathways to understanding,
action, and change.
Forms include, but are not limited to, dialogue-
based programs

7. Breakout Group Questions
How does this theme relate to civic discourse? How does it
inform museums’ civic discourse work?
What gaps or omissions do we encounter in our historical
knowledge of [theme] in relation to museums’ work in civic
discourse?
Thinking about the past, present and future, what are three
(3) possibilities for furthering our understanding of [theme] as
a means to inform museums’ civic discourse work?

8. Report Back
Thinking about the past, present and future, what
are three (3) possibilities for furthering our
understanding of [theme] as a means to inform
museums’ civic discourse work?
NOTE: Please give us group process documents & notes
at send of session. Thank you!

9. Discussion
What ideas cut across the groups?
Given the work we’ve done today, what essays
would you like to read in our volume or write for it?

10. The Project after #ncph2016 Baltimore
AAM similar off-program working session
Online discussion
From fact-finding will develop framework and CFP
Stay involved! Invite others.
Submit an idea for a paper