Dale and all:
I've been doing quite a bit of research in this area lately. Although I 
wouldn't call it "personal connections" that I'm studying, that is 
certainly what the experience is about (in addition to other things). 
To latch onto Elee's email, I have investigated deeply just what a 
numinous experience is (as per Cameron & Gatewood) and have published 
one paper that touched on the subject (but with archives; in 
Collections, vol.3/2). I have another paper coming out this fall as 
well that focuses more on the museum experience and connection with 
objects, specifially historical objects (Mus. Mgt. & Cur-ship). I would 
be happy to send you my bibs from those and maybe there will be a 
source that strikes you there. Clearly, your question has no simple 
answer, as everyone's responses have shown here. But, it's a VERY 
interesting topic.

Kiersten F. Latham
Emporia State University
Emporia, KS

Wood, Elizabeth J wrote:


>RE:  Personal connections to history in museums
>
>A great topic and good discussion started already.  
>
>I've not seen anything specifically related to a definition of "personal
>connection" though there are some studies out there that are decidedly
>related to this idea in history in Cameron, C.M., & Gatewood, J.B.,
>(2000). Excursions into the Un-Remembered Past: What People Want from
>Visits to Historic Sites. Public Historian, 22(3), 107-127.  Their later
>work (Cameron, C.M., & Gatewood, J.B., (2003). Seeking Numinous
>Experiences In The Unremembered Past. Ethnology, 42(1), 55-72) goes more
>into the "holy" experiences which may or may not be what you are terming
>as personal connection. 
>
>If your definition takes you more into the emotional route,
>Csikszentmihalyi's early work (The Meaning of Everyday Things for
>example) looked at the relationship between self and object.  And then
>there's also the aesthetic route. Dewey's ideas of the aesthetic
>experience are outlined in Art as Experience and Jacksons review of
>Dewey (John Dewey and the Lessons of Art) goes into the concept of
>intrinsic and extrinsic meaning with art, objects, etc.
>
>Elee 
>-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- 
>Elizabeth (Elee) Wood, Ph.D., 
>Office: 317-274-7332 | Email: [log in to unmask]
>
>> >> On 8/6/07 2:20 PM, "Dale Jones" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >>> Hi -
>> >>>
>> >>> I am preparing a session at AASLH on personal connections to
>> history in
>> >>> museums and am looking for some working definitions, or better
>yet,
>> a
>> >>> definition that comes out of relevant scholarship.   Many history
>> museums
>> >>> and sites now use some variant of "personal connections" or
>> "connecting to
>> >>> the past" in their mission statements, but I have found none that
>> define
>> >>> what they mean.
>> >>>
>> >>> Any thoughts?
>> >>>
>> >>> Thanks
>> >>>
>> >>> Dale Jones
>> >>> Institute for Learning Innovation
>> >>> [log in to unmask]
>
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