The Relevancy-Driven Museum

Upstate History Alliance/
Museum Association of New York
Annual Conference
April 13-15, 2008
Albany Marriott
Albany, New York

The relevancy-driven museum focuses its mission and goals on the  
creation of impactful audience experiences that act as a catalyst for  
connection to larger societal issues.  Whether it involves the  
preservation of built or natural environments, tolerance for diverse  
people and cultures, or advancement of the realm of science,  
technology and society, the relevancy-driven museum’s learning and  
teaching experiences embrace the roles of human connection and  
societal activism.

We are currently seeking proposals for conference sessions that  
discuss or explore aspects related to our theme of "The Relevancy- 
Drive Museum."  We are interested in creating a provocative and  
diverse program for this conference, and welcome proposals from  
museums of every discipline, as well as from all areas within  
institutions -- collections, exhibitions, education/outreach,  
development, administration, governance.

Sessions could address any of the following questions:

*What role can museums play in shaping sustainable communities?
*How can activist missions make museums more accessible?
*How can museums collaborate with other agencies to best serve  
changing lifestyles and community demographics?
*What programmatic or organizational models help museums offer  
substantive perspectives on contemporary issues?
While we welcome standard presentation/panel format session  
proposals, we hope you will explore using other formats such as  
roundtable discussions, debates, or critiques. Sessions can be  
practical or theoretical in nature. We encourage you to present  
different or opposing approaches/solutions to an issue in the same  
session. In developing a session with multiple presenters, we  
strongly urge you to partner with representatives from various museum  
disciplines.


Submitting a Proposal

The deadline for session proposals is November 30, 2007. Proposals  
must be submitted electronically to [log in to unmask] Visit  
www.upstatehistory.org/services/conferences/proposal.html for  
instructions and to download the session proposal form. The UHA/MANY  
program committee will review proposals and decisions will be made by  
early January 2008. We also welcome general comments or suggestions  
for topics you would like to see covered at the conference.


Questions

If you have any questions or are looking for assistance with  
developing a proposal, contact UHA Program Coordinator, Jenny  
Rosenzweig, at 800.895.1648; [log in to unmask] or MANY  
director Anne Ackerson at 518.273.3400, [log in to unmask]


About the UHA/MANY Annual Conference

The UHA/MANY Annual Conference is the largest gathering of museum  
professionals in the state. Each year it brings together a diverse  
array of individuals from all types and sizes of museums, historical  
societies, and similar cultural organizations.

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