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That sounds like a terrific course!

I suggest Terri McNichol, Ren Associates 
(http://www.benshen.com/renassociates/about.htm), as a guest speaker. 
She recently shared with me a draft of an essay-in-progress that 
seems pertinent to your class's themes. It's about a very fruitful 
assignment she has given community college students for a number of 
years. She has required them to visit museums (often their first 
time), to choose a single piece of non-Western art, and to write 
about their responses to the object.

Beyond showing how this bears on museum audiences and cultural 
diversity, Terri connects the students' experiences to larger issues 
of sustainability, organizational development, and critical thinking.

Rather than simply inviting Terri to talk about this project, you 
might want to have her give a mini-workshop--in effect, replicating 
the assignment with your students and then talking about how to use 
the strategy in practice in other settings. I think it would provoke 
a very interesting discussion.

Karen
Karen Reeds, PhD, FLS
Independent exhibit curator and museum consultant
Visiting Scholar, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania
Guest Curator, Come into a New World: Linnaeus & America exhibition,
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>Eric Siegel <[log in to unmask]> 11/22/2009 8:04 PM >>>
>
>Hello, all:  Preeti Gupta and I are co-teaching a class with the above 
>title at the NYU Museum Studies Grad program.  Its a new course, so I 
>am trying to think who we could invite to come speak as guest 
>lecturers beyond the usual suspects.  Ideally they would be new 
>yorkers, or in the area.
>
>Also, if you have cool ideas for readings or media that we should know 
>about that would be great too.
>
>Here is the course description....
>
>=========================
>
>This course will combine readings, project based learning, and 
>dialogues with museum leaders to address the intersection of museums, 
>the communities they serve (or aspire to serve), and the individual 
>visitor.   As cultural diversity becomes the norm for communities 
>throughout the country, museums are challenged to develop strategies 
>to engage with this diversity.  At the same time, the motivations of 
>museum-goers as individuals or in small groups continues to be a topic 
>of considerable interest and research.  The course will address both 
>the theoretical and applied approaches to understanding new audiences 
>and building institutions and programs that address the emerging needs 
>and concerns of these audiences. Eric Siegel, the Director and Chief 
>Content Officer of the New York Hall of Science, with nearly 30 years 
>of experience in museums throughout the boroughs of New York City, 
>will co-teach this course with Dr. Preeti Gupta, the Hall of Science's 
>Senior Vice President for Education and Family Programs.
>
>
>
>Eric Siegel
>esiegel at nyscience dot org
>projects web site at http://www.etsiegel.net
>
>NY Hall of Science is on:
>Twitter: http://twitter.com/nysci
>Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nysci
>YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/nyhallofscience


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