ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Ben -
I will not be at AAM this year, but one important area of discussion might be how to get to new audiences. The notion "guerilla science" fits a couple of ideas that have been practiced in the science museum realm. The idea of doing "drop ins" at pubs (we did a joint session with the Franklin at an ASTC a few years ago), where a group of scientists or science educators set themselves up in a pub in an imposing way and field science questions. Another that Science Gallery has used in the past (If you are on the list, Michael John, my apologies in advance for any mischaracterizations!) is the notion of spontaneous street activities that dramatize or promote science ideas or themes. 

The holy grail of attracting and holding on to new and emerging audiences is a big question in the back of our minds because if you build it they won't necessarily come. You might even just bring this up as a question to session-goers. As much as we do as informal learning institutions, we still miss a significant number of people who need to become more science literate, and as John Falk has argued in recent talks and articles, a significant proportion of science learning and hence, science literacy comes from the informal sector. One could equally argue this point about fine art. 

Good luck and have a great session. 


Stephen Miles Uzzo, PhD.
VP, Science & Technology
New York Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street
Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NY 11368 USA
V +1.718.699.0005 x377
F +1.718.699.5227







On May 17, 2011, at 6:09 PM, Benjamin Dickow wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
> 
> Hi anyone who will be at AAM in Houston...
> 
> A few months ago, some of you were involved in a discussion on this listserv
> about the definition of museums. It resolved a couple of weeks ago with a
> reference to the latest Enhibitionist issue. Not to beat a dead horse, but
> if you want to continue this discussion, John Falk and I will be conducting
> a session at AAM in Houston this weekend called, oddly enough, "Redefining
> Museums." We proposed this session a year ago, but it seems that it couldn't
> come at a better time. If you have time at the conference, please come by
> and take part in the conversation. It's going to be pretty wild, we hope.
> 
> That's "Redefining Museums"
> Sunday, May 22
> 1:15 - 2:30 pm
> 
> Also, if any of you have a question that you would like the session to
> tackle, please send it to me, now...before the session. I can't guarantee
> that it will be discussed, but it's possible. This session is for the
> attendees as much as anyone and we want the discussion to serve the group as
> much as possible.
> 
> Thanks and see you there!
> Ben
> 
> Ben Dickow
> 310-614-6048
> [log in to unmask]
> 
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> 
> Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.
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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

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