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Begin forwarded message:

> From: David McKenzie <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: July 5, 2012 7:50:24 PM EDT
> To: Cynthia A Kierner <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Fwd: Appointment of Amelia Wong---new Museum Studies Program faculty
> 
> Hi Cindy,
> 
> Hope your summer is coming along well. I thought I'd pass this along to you, especially since it talks about a course that might be of interest to new media and/or applied history people--course offered by GW's Museum Studies program.
> 
> David
> 
> ---
> David Patrick McKenzie
> History Ph.D. Student, George Mason University
> Interpretive Programs Manager, Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington
> 
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Blog: http://www.davidmckenzie.info/musings
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: Kym Rice <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: Appointment of Amelia Wong---new Museum Studies Program faculty
>> Date: July 5, 2012 12:05:02 PM EDT
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Reply-To: Kym Rice <[log in to unmask]>
>> 
>> July 5, 2012
>> 
>> The Museum Studies Program is pleased to announce the appointment of
>> our new assistant FT professor, Amelia Wong.  Amelia holds a BA from
>> UCLA in history and a PhD in American Studies from the University of
>> Maryland, College Park. Amelia’s scholarship focuses on how museums,
>> especially those concerned with democratization, can engage critically
>> with technology for their goals. Her dissertation, “Museums, Social
>> Media, and the Fog of Community,” reflects her research interests and
>> is the first book-length project about social media in American
>> museums.
>> 
>> Amelia is currently the US Holocaust Memorial Museum’s senior social
>> media strategist. Under her direction, for example, the USHMM’s
>> Twitter community has grown from 2000 to over 100,000 people.  Amelia
>> also developed and produced an ongoing Web series, “Curators’ Corner,”
>> which gives the public, donors and others an inside look at the
>> museum’s collections via short multimedia presentations narrated by
>> USHMM staff. During her first year at the museum, Amelia proposed,
>> planned and implemented the innovative “Conscience Unconference,” a
>> participant-generated and led conference on the topic of social media
>> for social good.  She has a strong reputation in the museum community
>> as a communicator, educator and innovator.
>> This fall Amelia will be teaching a seminar class entitled, “Museums,
>> Interactivity, Technologies,” on Thursday from 4:10 to 6 pm at 1310 G
>> Street N.W.  A description follows:
>> The concept of interactivity in modern museum practice has developed
>> roughly over the past half-century. Facing various challenges, museums
>> embraced the notion of interactivity to reframe the traditional
>> relationship between museums and their audiences from one where the
>> latter passively absorbed the knowledge of the former, to one where
>> both sides actively negotiated knowledge and meaning. Museums have
>> often turned to various technologies to support this pursuit.
>> 
>> This course takes an interdisciplinary and cultural studies approach
>> to interrogating the notion of interactivity and the use of
>> technologies in modern museum practice. Whereas today’s practitioners
>> often reduce the definitions of interactivity and technology to
>> electronic and digital technologies, this course situates current
>> technologies within history and culture, recognizing them as in the
>> process of remediation and convergence. Students will acquire a broad
>> understanding of how and why museums turn to interactivity and
>> technology to expand and serve audiences; inform, communicate,
>> educate, and collaborate; for collections and exhibition practices;
>> and for marketing and development. Students will learn about a wide
>> array of technologies currently used by museums, including
>> “interactives,” immersive installations, video, websites, social
>> media, and mobile technologies. The course will expose students to
>> theory and practice of interactivity and technology in museums to
>> build knowledge and critical thinking about how to choose, implement,
>> and evaluate the use of technology as practitioners.
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Kym S. Rice, Director, Museum Studies Program-The George Washington
>> University, 1310 G Street N.W., Suite 690, Washington, D.C. 20005
>> 202-994-7030
>