For the discussion this Monday (4/3) on these readings of storytelling, here are some thoughts / questions / provocative ideas / hopefully generative insights that may guide us:

On Hollander’s (2019) questions for the future of museum storytelling:

  • What are some examples of museums and institutions that have meaningfully and successfully designed, implemented, and assessed inclusion / community-first initiatives? What can we learn from them?
  • Highlighting the question of “how to amplify voices of the unrecognized”: Is this the purpose of museums? A recurring theme of the class has been: what is the purpose of the museum? Is designing community-first exhibits the goals for all museums? Some? What contexts might call for different approaches / reasons for approaches?
  • Highlighting the question of “is the museum unwelcoming to large portions of our society”: How might museums address the question of trying to be accommodating to all? If this is the goal, what are some ways museums CAN address all; if this is not the goal, please explain the alternative goals / approaches.

On Ferreira’s (2020) ideas on transmedia storytelling in museums:

  • How can museums utilize transmedia storytelling in their work (what contexts)? What are some affordances and limitations of doing so?
  • How might museums navigate accessibility and representation in their use of transmedia storytelling?
  • What examples of transmedia storytelling in/from museums can be found? What can be learned from non-museum uses of transmedia storytelling? How can those learnings translate to guiding implementation in museum settings?

On Lupton’s (2017) writing on design as storytelling:

  • In thinking about the chronosystem – the outermost level in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model theory (micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- system are the first four, in order – an artifact in a museum is impacted in a way related to the time in which a visitor is experiencing it, and the visitor is similarly impacted in a way related to the time in their lives which they’re experiencing it; is there a way then to capture the dynamic and ever-changing story of an artifact and its experiencer?
  • How are the museumgoer’s experience and the hero’s journey related? How are artifacts in a museum and the hero’s journey related? What are ways that this could be utilized in creating a more compelling museum experience?
  • Reflect on exhibit layouts that you may have seen recently and/or that have had an impact on you. How did the layout contribute to your experience, and in what ways?