Sent in by Tufts alumnae:

• Assistant Registrar [The University of Utah] sent in by Tufts alumna, Jennifer Ortiz Open Date 05/14/2013 Requisition Number PRN03750B Job Title Assistant Registrar Working Title UMFA Registrar Job Grade C Standard Hours per Week 40 Work Schedule Summary Mon thru Fri 8:00 – 5:00 Department 00073 – Utah Museum of Fine Arts Type of Recruitment External Posting Pay Rate Range 14.00 – 16.00 Close Date NOTE: May close at anytime. 06/04/2013 Open Until Filled NOTE: May close at anytime. No Job Summary The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is located on …

Other jobs!

• Natural Science Educator [Turtle Bay Exploration Park, CA] Turtle Bay Exploration Park, located in beautiful Northern California, is seeking an enthusiastic, creative and experienced team player to join the education department. Reporting to the Education & Program Manager, the educator develops and implements interactive, engaging and learner-centered interdisciplinary education programs for museum, family and school programs, takes the lead on natural science programming and training and provides direct supervision …
• Manager of Youth Learning & Engagement [Wolfsonian] The Wolfsonian­Florida International University, a museum and research center located in the heart of historic south Miami Beach, uses objects to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design, to explore what it means to be modern, and to tell the story of social, political, and technological changes that have transformed our world. It encourages people to see the world …
• Project Manager [National Museum of the American Indian] Leads a multi-disciplinary team of museum personnel assigned to the project from across the museum, from inception through completion. Collaborates with representatives from the following functional areas:  collections, curatorial, conservation, registration, exhibition design, exhibition fabrication, media, information technology, fundraising, special events, publications, and administration and finance. Manages the most complex projects in the museum, i.e. those that …
• Assistant Coordinator, Exhibition Planning and Administration [The Museum of Modern Art] The Museum of Modern Art is now accepting applications for an Assistant Coordinator in the Exhibition Planning and Administration department.  Reporting to the Associate Director the incumbent will serve as an exhibition coordinator for medium-scale exhibitions and performances within the context of The Museum of Modern Art’s robust exhibition program, overseeing and implementing all aspects of …
• G:Class Assistant [The New Museum] The G:Class Assistant will develop and facilitate projects, trips and schedule work assignments for high school interns at the New Museum. Under the supervision of the Associate Educator, the G:Class Assistant will mentor teen interns as they gain work experience and exposure to contemporary art and ideas. The position hours are 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues-Fri July …
• Exhibition Coordinator [The Huntington Library] The Exhibition Coordinator serves as the project manager for the institution’s major exhibitions, including but not limited to exhibitions scheduled for the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery, West Hall of the Library, the Chandler Wing of the Scott Galleries, and the Works on Paper Room of the Huntington Art Gallery.  The Exhibition Coordinator works with …
• Chief Registrar and Collection Manager [Museum of the Moving Image]POSITION TITLE: Chief Registrar and Collections Manager Museum of the Moving Image is seeking an individual to serve as the Museum’s Chief Registrar and Collections Manager. This person will direct the planning and day-to-day management and care of the Museum’s permanent collection, all activities concerning incoming and outgoing loans, and oversee the application of approved procedures …
• Academic Programs Coordinator [The Hammer Museum] Under the supervision of the Assistant Director, Academic Programs, the Academic Programs Coordinator will coordinate the Museum’s UCLA student-related academic programs. These academic programs include but are not limited to the Hammer Student Association, Hammer Interns, student professional development programs, and outreach to campus. The Hammer Student Association is an organization of undergraduates and graduates …
• Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art [The Cleveland Museum of Art]The museum’s Contemporary Art department seeks applications for the position of Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art. Working under the direction of the Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, the individual who is appointed to this position will assist in the stewardship, programming and development of the museum’s important holdings in this field. Candidates should possess a …
• Assistant Chief Conservator, Collections Conservation and Housings [Preservation Department-Yale University Library] Preservation Department Yale University Library New Haven, CT Rank: Librarian 2-3 (Grades 24-25) Requisition: #21178BR www.yale.edu/jobs   Schedule:   Full-time (37.5 hours per week); Standard Work Week (M-F, 8:30-5:00)   Yale University offers exciting opportunities for achievement and growth in New Haven, Connecticut.  Conveniently located between Boston and New York, New Haven is the creative capital of Connecticut with cultural resources that include two major art …
• Senior Curator of Exhibitions [Ohio State University] Job ID: 13411096 Position Title: Senior Curator of Exhibitions Company Name: The Ohio State University Job Function: Curator Location(s): Columbus, Ohio, 43201, United States Posted: May 10, 2013 Entry Level: No Job Duration: Indefinite Min Education: Master’s Degree Min Experience: 3-5 Years   Apply URL:http://www.jobsatosu.com   Senior Curator of Exhibitions Wexner Center for the Arts Columbus, OH The Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University is seeking a Senior Curator to work in tandem with the center’s Director …
• Multiple Positions [Please Touch Museum] Current Job Openings Community Outreach Coordinator (.DOC) Experience Host (.DOC) Membership Manager (.DOC) Retail Assistant-Part-Time 24 hrs/week & Temporary May to Aug 16 hrs/week (.DOC) Security Officer-Part-Time (.DOC) Security Officer-On-Call (.DOC) Learn more.
• Media and Communications Editor [Society of Architectural Historians]SAH seeks a Media and Communications Editor to manage SAH’s non-scholarly print and online communications. The Editor will collaborate with SAH staff and leadership to develop communication strategies for promoting SAH’s major initiatives including its annual conference, study tours, publications, awards programs and public outreach. The Editor will strategize on media, marketing, communications, and branding. Learn more.
• Digital Preservation Officer [British Library] Ref S&C00406 Location London, St Pancras Position Type Fixed Term Specialism Curators, Conservation and Reading Room Salary: £37,937-£44,059 per annum plus benefits                     2 years fixed term                     St Pancras, London                                                                   The future of information is digital, but unless we take action today, our digital collections may not be safe, usable, or even understandable in just a few years’ time.   The British Library is one of the …

I did not have the chance to make my mom breakfast in bed this Mother’s Day. I had to go to Philadelphia to be a princess.

The Please Touch Museum hosts an annual Mother’s Day Princess Brunch for Centennial Guild Members (i.e.: platinum level, or those who pay for the highest possible membership package). The morning is complete with omelets and pancakes made to order, flowers for the mothers, and early admission to the museum, so kids can play on the floor relatively undisturbed.

And, oh yeah, you can meet a princess.

Following Storybook Ball, I was drafted for a Tour of Royal Duty – my supervisor claims it’s because I have the necessary “bubbly enthusiasm” early in the morning.

I was cast as Sleeping Beauty, and spent the morning greeting children, asking them if they had “a good sleep with nice dreams” and discussing the importance of eating your breakfast so you can have the energy to play all day. It was a blast, and no small ego boost to have squadrons of little girls follow you around like you’re a rock star.

But when I was all finished Princessing and had slipped out of the tulle dress and back into my blue jeans, I suddenly felt conflicted. Had I done the right thing by agreeing to do this? What kind of role model was I being for these kids?

My university-educated, progressive, egalitarian, feminist side was boiling mad. How could I – a girl who had put so much effort into my education, and who refuses to date men who choose my body over my brain – walk around smiling at kids pretending that none of it matters?

I typically agree with Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter. Orenstein posits that most women have a “princess complex,” where we fear aging into evil hags, will wait around for Prince Charming rather than adventure solo, and feel we need to meet certain societal conventions to be considered beautiful. (I could go on and on, but I’d rather you read more about it here, here or here.)

My inner feminist was freaking out, but my museum professional side took a deep breath.

In school we learn that part of being a good museum professional is to know your audience. What do they like? What do they want? What gets them excited?

Little girls love princesses. (And by the way, their brothers love princesses who freelance as international superspies, Jedi Knights and ninjas.)

If dressing up like a princess is what it takes to get a three-year-old girl to come to the museum, then so be it. It doesn’t mean that said princess has to sell the idea of needing a prince or that you have to be a certain dress size to be beautiful. Quite the contrary. This princess asked kids what their favorite exhibit was, and did they like coming to the museum, what’s the best part about Kindergarten and what books they like to read. She also told them that they were beautiful, especially with pancake syrup all over their faces.

Interestingly, kids are more willing to share their toys (and breakfasts) with princesses, and kids who are normally really shy told me their life stories. Learning through play, for sure. If only they believed all their playmates were royalty.

My hope is that rather than creating girls with a princess complex, I’m helping to create museum advocates. Anything that helps to create a good memory in the museum – be it a Carousel ride or meeting a princess – creates the inroads for that little girl to ask to come back, or to go to another museum next weekend, or to even take out a membership years later when she has kids.

So I came to this conclusion: so long as you’re not violating the museum’s mission or promoting retrograde thinking, and you are working towards building a community in your museum, princess it up. Jump into that tulle dress, smile, sparkle and sell it.

Where do you fall on this issue? Do you think it’s okay to have princesses in the museum? Share your thoughts with me in the comments!

• Star Wars exhibit at Indiana St. Museum
• Art Review: Fighters With a Wardrobe to Match
• Princess Diana museum to close, contents to go to sons
• Column: Canada’s museums could learn from Greece
• RAF Museum to raise Nazi bomber from 1940 Blitz out of English Channel
• ABBA museum to sell exclusive Efva Attling jewelry
• Benton Museum Docent Symposium Addresses Technology Challenges
• To Raze or Not? MoMA Rethinks Plan
• Getty Museum buys ‘Rembrandt Laughing’: tiny portrait, huge value

• Education Curator [Aspen Art Museum] *About the Aspen Art Museum * The Aspen Art Museum is an accredited, globally preeminent, noncollecting institution that organizes and presents the newest, most important evolutions in international contemporary art through a dynamic exhibition program of ten to twelve shows per year. With an annual operating budget of over $3.1 million and staff of 28 professionals, the AAM is situated …
• Kress Interpretive Fellowship 2013-2014 [Metropolitan Museum of Art]KRESS INTERPRETIVE FELLOWSHIP 2013-2014 Position Description: The Kress Interpretive Fellowship aims to cultivate students and young professionals interested in museum careers and focuses on curatorial and educational collaboration. The Fellow’s activities will focus on fostering connections between the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department’s historic British collections and the creative practice of contemporary design and architecture communities. The collections range in date …
• Exhibit Content Developer [Museum of Science] Description Develop engaging, educational, accurate, accessible and relevant facilitated and un-facilitated museum experiences that effectively communicate their intended messages to a wide audience and that reflect input from the public, experts in the scientific and engineering community and from Museum staff. Collaborates with team members, project managers, other museums, and members of the community to develop …
• Exhibition Curator [Atlanta History Center] Job ID: 13253385 Position Title: Exhibition Curator Company Name: Atlanta History Center Location(s): Atlanta, Georgia, 30305, United States Posted: April 25, 2013 Job Function: Exhibitions Entry Level: No Job Type: Full-time   Job Description The Atlanta History Center is looking for a highly motivated and results-oriented professional to fill a three-year position within the organization of Exhibition Curator. The successful candidate will be a strategic and innovative thinker, who demonstrates strong verbal and written communications …
• Membership Manager [The Museum of Arts and Design] The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), the country’s premier contemporary institution exploring the intersection of craft, design and art, seeks an energetic membership professional to join the Membership team. The Museum is the country’s preeminent institution dedicated to the collection and exhibition of contemporary objects from these disciplines created in a variety of media. The …

If you’re friends with me on Facebook, then you may know that I spent Sunday morning at the Stainton Society’s Annual Brunch, which featured CNN journalist Anderson Cooper as a guest speaker.

The Stainton Society is an Atlantic City-based medical philanthropy group and the annual brunch is their big fundraiser for a local medical center. The who, what, and why of how I got into is event is really neither here nor there, but if you’re friends with me in general, then you may know that I am a huge Anderson Cooper fangirl. That had something to do with it.

I say this with only a little bit of bias: Anderson was awesome.

“There’s a value to bearing witness to what people are going through,” he said. “I think it’s important to see people in remarkable situations and acknowledge it.” No, bearing witness does not change the course of events, he continued. But it does open our eyes to other places and situations, and prevent someone who has passed away from simply dissolving into history, as if he never existed at all.

He went on to play to his audience, talking about how doctors and nurses bear witness to emotional, physical and medical extremes in hospitals – they see deaths and births, cure deadly diseases and deliver heartbreaking diagnoses. He then spoke about seeing war zones, of dealing with loss, of the people he’s met who remain optimistic, even in the direst of situations. On the surface, this all has nothing to do with me, or my profession.

But when it was all over, I had a strange thought: Anderson Cooper is a museum. (Specifically, I think he’s a history museum, but you can tell me if you disagree.)

Anderson Cooper has dedicated his life to bringing others’ stories to the public. They are stories from people you will never meet, stories that you may never hear otherwise. Some of them are terribly sad. Some of them are amazing. Some of them are funny in their own way. He wants to inform people and to tell them the facts – it’s up to us to interpret those facts, form an opinion and make that story mean something.

What is your museum’s mission? Technically, it may be to interpret history or make artistic masterpieces accessible for a nominal fee. But isn’t it really to bear witness to an historical moment? To recognize the human capacity to create amazing works of beauty?

Museums collect things, but the true story is that of the person who owned or used them. Objects tell a story – like Anderson Cooper, it’s the museum’s job to root that story out and share it with the public. With any collected object or exhibit, we have to find the story, ask the tough questions, edit the content, package it for mass consumption and give people something to think about. Please remember this exhibit, museums ask visitors. Please make this story meaningful.

I suppose what I’m getting at here is that in their own way, museums bear witness to the human condition and we as museum professionals are the reporters.

So what do you think? Is Anderson Cooper a history museum? Can history museums be Anderson Cooper?

Share you thoughts with me in the comments!

PS- I highly recommend reading Anderson’s book Dispatches from the Edge. In addition to giving insight into the lifestyle of a foreign correspondent, it may have helped inspire this column’s name. (Just a little.)

My pick of this week is this Sun Times piece about what we’re losing in the Field Museum’s budget cuts and how much more there is to natural history museum than what you can see for the price of admission.

• Fire Destroys Danish Museum, Collection Saved
• Museum in Gummidipoondi offers a ‘hearty’ welcome to visitors
• NY and Israel museums jointly buy ancient Hebrew manuscript that was about to be auctioned
• Smithsonian to close some exhibit areas because of sequestration
• Scholars find cannibalism at Jamestown settlement
• Museum in debt, suspends regular hours of operation
• Museum of Modern Art launches free-admission promotions
• 9/11 museum at Ground Zero will charge for  admission, angering family members of victims
• Museum Offered a Boost
• World’s most beautiful museums
• Metropolitan Museum says it will return Cambodian statues

This exhibition includes over 40 black and white works from the Boston Public Library’s John D. Merriam Collection. Through them, visitors can explore the artist’s creative and technical genius. Many are accompanied by excerpts from the stories they depict. Jump into the world of storytelling, early 20th century Russia and America, and children’s illustrations.

The exhibit is on view at the Tufts University Art Gallery in the Aidekman Arts Center at Tufts University. Learn more by reading the press release here.

But first, if you’ll be a Tufts student next year, check out this position at the Tufts University Art Gallery:

• Visitor Services Ambassadors [Tufts University Art Gallery] The Tufts University Art Gallery is hiring Visitor Services Ambassadors for the 2013-2014 academic year. The newly created position of Visitor Services Ambassador combines the responsibilities of visitor service (welcome visitors and provide information about the Gallery and its programs) with those of gallery guide (engage visitors about the exhibitions) and security staff (monitor the …

And back to our regular listings!

• Exhibit Content Developer [Museum of Science] Description Develop engaging, educational, accurate, accessible and relevant facilitated and un-facilitated museum experiences that effectively communicate their intended messages to a wide audience and that reflect input from the public, experts in the scientific and engineering community and from Museum staff. Collaborates with team members, project managers, other museums, and members of the community to develop …
• Exhibition Curator [Atlanta History Center] Job ID: 13253385 Position Title: Exhibition Curator Company Name: Atlanta History Center Location(s): Atlanta, Georgia, 30305, United States Posted: April 25, 2013 Job Function: Exhibitions Entry Level: No Job Type: Full-time   Job Description The Atlanta History Center is looking for a highly motivated and results-oriented professional to fill a three-year position within the organization of Exhibition Curator. The successful candidate will be a strategic and innovative thinker, who demonstrates strong verbal and written communications …
• Membership Manager [The Museum of Arts and Design] The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), the country’s premier contemporary institution exploring the intersection of craft, design and art, seeks an energetic membership professional to join the Membership team. The Museum is the country’s preeminent institution dedicated to the collection and exhibition of contemporary objects from these disciplines created in a variety of media. The …
• Associate Curator of Education [Woodmere Art Museum] Woodmere Art Museum, located in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, is seeking candidates with expertise in art education for the position of Associate Curator of Education.  Woodmere’s mission is to inspire creativity, learning, and self-expression through experiences with the art and artists of Philadelphia and the region, and candidates who demonstrate a passion for …
• Registrar [Oklahoma City Museum of Art] Job ID: 13313454 Position Title: Registrar Company Name: Oklahoma City Museum of Art Job Function: Registrar/Collections Management Entry Level: No Location(s): Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73102, United States Posted: May 1, 2013 Job Type: Full-time Job Duration: Indefinite Min Education: BA/BS/Undergraduate Min Experience: 3-5 Years Required Travel: 0-10%   Mission: Supports Museum mission through all aspects of registration, collections care, department, budget development, exhibition coordination Basic Functions: The Office of the Registrar implements Museum policies and procedures encompassing acquisitions, loans, exhibitions, deaccessions, storage, packing …
• Curator of African Art [Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University]Job ID: 13313045 Position Title: Curator of African Art Company Name: Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University Job Function: Curator Entry Level: No Location(s): Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, United States Posted: May 1, 2013 Job Type: Full-time Job Duration: Indefinite Min Education: Ph.D. Min Experience: 5-7 Years Required Travel: 10-25%   Job Description The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University seeks an experienced professional and accomplished scholar to serve as Curator of African Art for its preeminent collection of sub-Saharan African …
• Curator of Collections [The Menil Collection] The Menil Collection seeks a Curator of Collections dedicated to the research and interpretation of the museum’s holdings of non-Western art, most specifically those areas encompassing the cultures of Africa, Oceania, and the American Pacific Northwest. The Curator of Collections will supervise research and publication of works of non-Western Art, undertake original research, and provide scholarly …
• Museum Educator [Tampa Museum of Art] Job ID: 13265878 Position Title: Museum Educator Company Name: Tampa Museum of Art Job Function: Education Entry Level: No Location(s): Tampa, Florida, 33629, United States Posted: April 26, 2013 Job Type: Full-time Job Duration: Indefinite Min Education: BA/BS/Undergraduate Min Experience: 3-5 Years Required Travel: 0-10% The Tampa Museum of Art is currently accepting applications for a museum educator. The primary responsibility for this position will be the establishment of a new direction for the Museum’s engagement with its K-12 …
• Manager of Collections and Exhibitions [Allentown Art Museum] The Allentown Art Museum seeks an experienced professional to manage its collections and exhibitions, including scheduling. This individual is responsible for all activities related to the care of the Museum’s collections, providing oversight and coordination of outgoing and incoming loans, and assistance in planning and installing permanent and temporary exhibitions.  Experience in both preparatory and …
• Vice President, Education & Visitor Experience [San Antonio Children's Museum] Job ID: 13267948 Position Title: Vice President, Education & Visitor Experience Company Name: San Antonio Children’s Museum Job Function: Education Entry Level: No Location(s): San Antonio, Texas, 78201, United States Posted: April 26, 2013 Job Type: Full-time Job Duration: Indefinite Min Education: Master’s Degree Min Experience: 7-10 Years   Background Founded in 1995, the San Antonio Children’s Museum (SACM) is the city’s only museum exclusively devoted to children under the age of 10.  With three floors of interactive exhibits …
• Membership Manager [Please Touch Museum] Position Summary: Please Touch Museum seeks a Membership Manager to build and support the membership program.   Primary responsibilities will include, but not limited to: measuring and testing the effectiveness of membership marketing strategies; proactively establish new membership incentives and programs; managing the processing of new and renewal memberships through Siriusware; accurately maintaining membership records and membership database; …
• Exhibitions Interactives Producer [The Field Museum] As part of the Exhibitions Media and Interactives team, the Digital Interactives Producer will create digital hands-on experiences for permanent and temporary exhibitions.  Working within a creative environment, the Digital Interactives Producer is accountable for all aspects of production–from conceptualization to programming and integration into exhibitions. Job Duties Responsibilities include: Conceptualization and production of digital interactives based on …
• AHA Director of Scholarly Communication and Digital Initiatives [American Historical Association] The American Historical Association is seeking a Director of Scholarly Communication and Digital Initiatives. The Director of Scholarly Communication and Digital Initiatives will oversee the AHA’s communications with members and other constituencies. This includes print and digital publishing, web design, information management, and membership – all part of a strategy to enable the American Historical Association’s programs …
• BitCurator Community Lead [University of Maryland] Posting Details   Title: Faculty Research Assistant Functional Title: BitCurator Community Lead Position Number: 117047 Category Status: 15-Fac.Non-Tenured,Continuing Con Applicant Search Category: Faculty University Authorized FTE: 100.00 Unit: ARHU-MD Institute for Technology in the Humanities Hiring Range Minimum: $60,000 Hiring Range Maximum: $60,000 Campus/College Information: Founded in 1856, University of Maryland, College Park is the flagship institution in the University System of Maryland. Our 1,250-acre College Park campus is just minutes away from Washington, D.C., and …
• Project Manager [Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities]The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities at the University of Maryland is seeking an experienced project manager who will provide coordination and management for research projects and initiatives in the digital humanities. The Project Manager will work with senior MITH staff to conceptualize, implement, and manage digital humanities research work in a collaborative, team-driven environment. The successful …

Museum educators, as proprietors of informal learning for all ages, often run into a unique dilemma: how do we create educational science experiences that cater to both kids and adults? I was recently having a discussion about this topic with fellow Science in Museums blogger Cira Brown and our classmate Rachel Hacunda – we noted that museums (especially science and history museums) have increasingly and explicitly catered to a younger audience in the last couple of decades, arguably to the detriment of their adult visitors.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m entirely in favor of museums teaching science to children! That’s kind of my thing! As a museum educator, I’m fully aware of and supportive of the need to use learning theory and childhood development principles in crafting free-choice educational experiences for children – but have science museums taken this concept too far? It often seems that science museums can be either for children or for adults, but not for both at the same time – and I’d argue that this is a big problem for the field. At best, it “dumbs down” science for kids; at worst, it alienates both kids and parents by providing an experience that they can’t equally participate in together. We absolutely need our science museums to be not only child-friendly, but also actively adult-friendly. It’s a win for everyone.

As a case study, let’s look at the two major science museums in the Boston area: the Museum of Science (MOS) and the MIT Museum. MOS is a place many Bostonians remember going as children and hope to take their children one day; the MIT Museum is a place where grown-up science enthusiasts go to learn about recent research at MIT. One of these is almost entirely child-oriented, the other is strictly for adults (the MIT Museum’s website even states up front that content is aimed at those over 12). They fill different niches, but this inherently means that neither of them can fill the needs of an entire family.

The major issue is that kids and adults don’t visit science museum in a vacuum: kids necessarily have to visit museums with their parents. Why, then, is the science museum experience so often only for the kids? And when adults can participate meaningfully, such as in MOS’ recent (and fantastic) Design Zone exhibition (aimed at a middle school age range, but fun for pretty much everyone) – how can we market these exhibits to let parents know that, yes, their children can learn a lot here, but so can they?

I’d argue that marketing and public opinion is a big part of what we’re dealing with – science museums are often lumped together with children’s museum in the public consciousness. They’re hands-on, they’re interactive, and they’re so often just plain fun: these are all things that read as for kids in our culture. Adults gaze silently at art, they read about current research, they want the deeper meaning behind events and objects, and they want to get these things from experts, not figure them out for themselves – these are all major barriers to getting adults to feel comfortable just playing in museums. But playing is a valuable way to learn throughout a person’s whole life. When we play and interact, we lose inhibitions, we are free to make decisions and judgments, we are ultimately free to think critically with no consequences – and this is the real stuff of learning! This is exactly how we teach kids in museums, and we’d love to be able to create these same experiences for the adults who accompany them.

Another driving force behind the ongoing kiddification of science museums is the increasing reliance on learning theory. Now, obviously learning theory is a great thing, and something we should absolutely be using as a tool in creating educational experiences – but we should be using it as just that: a tool. Not every exhibit needs to explicitly target Piaget’s Concrete Operational stage. Increasingly, science exhibitions are aimed at very specific ages (see the above example of Design Zone, aimed at young teens), and rarely do they target the adult audience, or even other kids. But as anti-vaccine debates, climate change denialism, and the emergence of creationism as a “valid alternative” to evolution show, adults desperately need to learn science too.

In casual conversations, I hear a lot about the “dumbing down” of science exhibitions. It seems that educators try to present material in a way that kids can understand, without realizing that kids can understand a whole lot more than we give them credit for. We worry about introducing difficult topics too early, but in my experience, kids can handle science. Kids don’t have the fear of science that adults often develop after years of schooling. If a certain kid can’t handle a certain topic at a certain time, they’ll get to it when they’re ready – and when they’re ready, they’ll have the background knowledge of having at least engaged with the topic before. It hurts no one to give people too much information, but it is a definite problem to withhold scientific content for the sake of remaining approachable for the lowest common denominator.

I think part of the problem here is assuming that people can only learn from those exhibitions, books, and lessons which are specifically aimed at them – but my experience has shown that this isn’t true at all. Personally, I remember visiting exhibitions “for adults” when I was a child – and I remember learning a lot from them! Even if I didn’t interact with the specific content the curators wrote in the labels, I remember seeing major works of art, huge dinosaurs, and recreations of the Battle of San Jacinto and being amazed that such things exist in the first place. When asked about memorable childhood museum experiences, adults will rarely cite carefully crafted age-appropriate interactives, but will talk at length about the Blue Whale at the American Museum of Natural History or the room of armor at the Metropolitan. These are displays that are minimally interpretive (sometimes a trait of adult-centered exhibitions), but that teach and inspire kids in intense, formative ways. And best of all: they’re exhibits that can give parents just as much joy and wonder.

We need to start thinking about what it is exactly that kids get out of museum visits – I’d predict that it would very closely align with what adults get out of them. It likely won’t be about the specific information imparted, but it can be about the experience of being around really cool stuff while doing really cool things – that’s something that all ages can get excited about! And, like play, it’s something that’s inherently educational at every level of development: isn’t that what we want out of a museum visit? The Higgs-Boson particle is inherently cool – we can’t assume that only particle physicists can understand it or relate to it. Show a kid a model of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland and tell them what it does. Try telling kids about cosmology, organic chemistry, molecular biology. There’s no way that stuff isn’t awesome, no matter how old you are or what you know about science.

People just need to feel comfortable enough engaging with material, and “dumbing down” scientific content for a younger age isn’t going to accomplish this for anyone. Everyone can tell when he or she is being talked down to (and yes, even kids pick up on this extremely quickly). Let’s have faith in our multi-age audiences to engage with science. I’d be willing to bet that they’ll rise to the challenge.

Last April, in a fit of ridiculousness, I declared myself Her Royal Highness, Madeline, Ice Princess of Pittsburgh and All Western Pennsylvania. My friends rolled their eyes, sighed, and obliged until the Pittsburgh Penguins were knocked out of Stanley Cup contention in the first round, thereby ending my reign supreme.

This year I did no such thing, but had I chosen to reclaim my Ice Princess title, the circumstances would have been far less ridiculous. You see, I was slated to attend the Please Touch Museum’s 5th annual Storybook Ball, a fundraiser where royal titles – along with ball gowns, knights in armor and a healthy imagination – are not only welcomed, they’re encouraged.

No, really. Some families got *way* into it.

For the past twenty-eight years, the Please Touch Museum has hosted an annual book awards ceremony to honor modern and prolific children’s authors like David Ezra Stein (author of my beloved Interrupting Chicken), Mo Willems (Listen to My Trumpet, Book 17 in the Elephant and Piggie series), and Ame Dyckman (Boy + Bot).

But a ceremony of such importance is nothing without a celebration, and as any child will tell you, story books plus big celebrations can only equal one thing: a Royal Ball. In 2009, the museum decided to host an accompanying fundraiser; thus the Annual Storybook Ball was born. Museum members are invited to come to the museum dressed as their favorite storybook characters for an evening of age-appropriate play, character meet and greets, and of course, author-led story times, all in the name of celebrating great children’s stories and literacy skills.

Adorably, this year’s Ball played out like a prom for pre-schoolers – complete with knights and superheroes, princesses and fairies. And lest you think the kids were the only ones involved, I saw more than one grown set of Prince Charming and Evil Queen chaperones.

For the less whimsical in the crowd, Storybook Ball has done more than provide Please Touch Museum members with a night of escapist fantasy that ends happily ever after (provided there are no temper tantrums). As a fundraising event, the Ball has proven itself to be an increasing success and a model for future fundraisers. Some stats, for you bottom-liners out there:

• Between 2012 and 2013, Storybook Ball has raised over $200,000 for the museum.
• 1,400 people attended Storybook Ball in 2013.
• Three authors/illustrators honored in the 2013 Book Awards ceremony attended the Ball.
• Storybook Ball was listed as one of the Top Ten Things To Do in Philadelphia for the weekend of 4/20/2013 on philly.com’s weekly event calendar.

In short, this fundraiser knows its audience, and it knows its audience is growing. It’s more than your average dinner/silent auction/raffle ticket fundraiser, it’s more fun than your average black tie museum affair and it’s more than a meet-and-greet with your favorite authors at the bookstore. Storybook Ball is all of these things and more.

To quote a famous book loving princess – and Ball attendee! – this event had “far off places, magic spells, daring swordfights, [and] a prince in disguise” among other enchanting features. Props if you can “Name That Princess.” More props if you decided reading was cool as a kid because she liked to read, too.

I’m a hard sell on fundraisers, but I am absolutely looking forward to attending next year’s Ball. Here’s hoping Her Royal Highness the Ice Princess will dust off her skates to make an appearance.

No Ball is complete without a carriage. Members were offered rides around the building in this horse-drawn pumpkin, complete with Footman and commemorative photo.

 All photos courtesy of the Please Touch Museum