Past ConferencesReimagining and Rebuilding A global pandemic that has affected the lives of billions. Protests in over 30 countries that have called for an end to police brutality and systemic racism. As a result of these worldwide events, the informal learning field has seen an immense amount of change, including loss of jobs, taking on new or different roles, and helping institutions address complex questions around equity and racial justice. Now more than ever, society demands that cultural organizations support anti-racist practices that establish more equitable spaces that ultimately benefit the communities they serve. Researchers, evaluators, and all museum professionals have been faced with the question of how we can create more relevant and socially conscious organizations, but given extensive layoffs and institutional restructuring, how can this work happen with fewer resources and competing priorities? This year, the Visitor Studies Association will not only reflect on current crises in the informal learning field but also look to the future. How can we confront and dismantle oppressive structures in our field; recover from months of closures, extensive layoffs, and lost funding; and re-envision our organizations and the visitor studies field at large, ultimately rebuilding them for a better and more just society? Download the Conference Session Descriptions Ways of Knowing How do we know what we know? The story of visitor studies is long and somewhat winding -- and it continues to grow and evolve. Over the years, visitor studies professionals have built a breadth and depth of knowledge around visitors and their experiences, and although our work is generally grounded in the social sciences, we have sought to find meaning in a variety of ways and through a wide range of approaches. From research to evaluation, to facilitation and everything in between, we are tasked with answering questions that are sometimes big and sometimes small. These questions may inform specific institutional strategies, and they may also inspire and inform our field and beyond. But how do we know what questions to explore, or what questions are worth exploring? Who is responsible for exploring these questions? Download the Conference Session Abstracts Fostering Transparency, Strengthening Public Trust The informal learning field has long grappled with questions like “how do we remain relevant to our communities?” and “what is our value to society?” As many organizations turn inward and seek to protect their interests, we are reminded that places of informal learning are perceived as offering more trustworthy information than most other entities, particularly in a climate of uncertainty and polarization. Meanwhile, our institutions are also well-positioned to offer experiences that not only engage people intellectually, but also promote empathy and understanding to help bridge the widening divides between us. Right now, there is a greater opportunity and need for informal learning institutions to strengthen our position of public trust. We can do this by finding ways to maintain transparency, foster dialogue with the communities we serve, and ensure that we respond to those communities authentically and responsibly. At the same time, our organizations must also interrogate the ways in which and the extent to which their choices about collection, interpretation, collaboration, and governance have earned--or jeopardized--the trust of many diverse publics. New Pathways in Visitor Studies In visitor studies, we are challenged to respond to a rapidly changing world in order to maintain a current understanding of our visitors and their needs, as well as the field of visitor studies itself. We pursue new pathways in part because of changes within the communities we serve, as demographic shifts and technological advances (among others) require us to think differently about the work we do. We also look for innovative approaches to fostering change within our field, such as becoming more inclusive of other voices or finding ways to leverage our collective impact. New insights and innovations from outside our field can also offer novel ways of looking at learning and learners to support mission-driven institutions like museums, zoos and aquariums. To gain fresh perspectives on our work, attendees looked both within and beyond our field for new ways to think about learning, as well as promising approaches to solving current problems. The 2017 Conference, entitled “New Pathways in Visitor Studies”, sought to advance the field by challenging conference speakers and attendees to work creatively and collaboratively to deliver reliable new insights about the experiences of our visitors. Download the Conference Session Abstracts The Data Revolution The 2016 conference focused on data use, access, and our understanding of it. Data has always been at the heart of what we do. However, as our world becomes more connected than ever before, a massive amount of information is being generated, collected and studied as we enter a new era of Big Data. Along with the promise of this Data Revolution come challenges - collecting and make meaning of large amounts of data with limited resources; identifying the best strategies for communicating data to our stakeholders; pooling data, to offer insights into visitor experiences; and more. across our institutions? IThe 2016 conference considered these, and other, questions about the present and future implications of collecting, interpreting, and communicating data in our field. Download the Conference Session Abstracts Taking Action for Improvement, Growth, and Social Change
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