Disability and the Inclusive Intention

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

About the co-editor-in-chief

Michelle Moon joined the JME staff in 2021. She is an independent museum consultant, currently Principal of Saltworks Interpretive Consulting. She has 20 years’ experience in museum education and interpretation including roles as Chief Program Officer at the Tenement Museum, Director of Interpretation and Evaluation at Newark Museum, and Director of Education at the Strawbery Banke Museum. A recognized leader in museum education, she is active in professional organizations and served as the 2021 Annual Meeting Program Chair for AASLH. She has published numerous articles and two books, including Interpreting Food at Museums and Historic Sites and Public History and the Food Movement: The Missing Ingredient (co-authored with Cathy Stanton). She brings a demonstrated commitment and skill advancing equity and inclusion work, having served as the senior founding leader on the Tenement Museum’s Equity Council and as a delegate to MASS Action. She holds an M.A. in Museum Studies from Harvard University Extension School and a B.A. in English and Education from Connecticut College.

Notes

1 The Incluseum, co-directed by Rose Paquet, Aletheia Wittman, and Porchia Moore, is an online resource dedicated to building community and inclusion in museums and can be found at https://incluseum.com. The Inclusive Museum Research Network, chaired by UNESCO Chair on Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development Amareswar Galla, is an international organization that hosts conferences, publishes books and journals, and convenes symposia. It can be found at https://onmuseums.com/. MASS Action began as a three-year initiative convening museums to develop resources for building inclusive practice in museums and can be found at http://museumaction.org/.

2 Eisenhauer Richardson and Kletchka, “Museum Education for Disability Justice and Liberatory Access,” PAGE #.

3 Sullivan, “Evaluating the Ethics and Consciences of Museums,” 257.

4 UNESCO, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

5 Edelstein, “New Foundations,” PAGE #.

6 Stringer, “Accessibility in Museum Education,” 185.

7 Robledo-Allen Yamamoto and Galuban, “Illness and Empathy.”

8 See Octopus Initiative at https://octopus.mcadenver.org/.

9 See “Care Package: Cultural Nutrients for Times Like These” at SmithsonianAPA.org; Historic Arkansas Museum, “History is Served: Curbside!” at https://www.arkansasheritage.com/events/2021/10/21/default-calendar/history-is-served; and “My Museum Kit,” https://crystalbridges.org/blog/bringing-art-to-youth-with-my-museum-kit/.

10 Diaz and Sims, “The Arc of Accessibility Work in Museum Education.”

11 Hoth and Levitt, “Museums and the Handicapped.”

12 Diaz et al., “Working Together to Advance Accessibility.”