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Defining Museum Ethics

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008

The IME's inaugural conference, Defining Museum Ethics, brings together museum theorists, museum professionals, ethicists and legal experts to discuss what we mean by the terms transparency, accountability, and social responsibility.

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Partners' Corner

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums.

Seton Hall University, located in South Orange, NJ, is home to the Institute of Museum Ethics.

Spring 2009 - Ethics in Museum Governance and Leadership

Submitted by admin on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 6:49am.

Announcing a new team-taught Museum Ethics course funded by the IMLS

M.A. Program in Museum Professions, Seton Hall University
Thursdays, 6:15-8:25

FACULTY:
Dr. Emlyn Koster, CEO and President, Liberty Science Center
Dr. Judith Stark, Dept of Philosophy, Seton Hall University

Open to 10 Museum Professionals free of charge (non credit)
and 10 MAMP Students (for credit)

This course examines the ethical frameworks within which museum governance and leadership may be articulated and enhanced. The museum field has lately become more reflective in a search for what relevancy and sustainability entail, and society is surrounded by new challenges and opportunities that would seem to demand a greater external accountability of museums. A series of questions constitutes the structure of this course leading to conversations about the principles and practices that are at the core of how museums of various sorts actually function. Covered dimensions include: missions, visions and values; professional codes of ethics; roles of museum directors and board members; and lessons from controversies and crises. Assisted by fieldwork at several nearby museums, this course examines how discourse and transparency can strengthen a museum’s ethical foundations at a time when many of the field’s paradigms appear to warrant a re-examination. Readings include materials on basic ethical theories and principles, professional codes, policies and practices, case studies, and current controversies in ethical governance and leadership. Designed for graduate level students in museum profession programs and for museum professionals in the field.