Thank you, John Suau, for your comments! I am also wondering about this, but didn’t have the excuse of writing a paper to ask about it. Doesn't anyone have any comments? Come on, people! I know that a diversity initiatives are certainly NOT "common to all museums". It certainly is a trend, even in small and non-urban museums, to include "diversity" in exhibits, and in some cases this is a big step. However, I think this is only the first level. What about hiring practices, collections policies, programming? I know a lot of the better-funded museums are doing more collaborative projects with targeted communities, in many aspects of museum work-- not just exhibits. But I also know some other museums (small and large) which seem to consider diversity a non-issue once they get a couple of brown faces represented in their galleries. The barriers to diversity? Well, start with a homogenous staff-- I work in a museum with an all-white, middle class, U.S.-born staff. We have Plains Indian objects in the collection, and on exhibit, but how INVESTED are any of us (the staff) in the Native American community? Wouldn't that exhibit be more powerful if the people these object represent were to speak for themselves instead of through white curators? Wouldn't Native Americans be more likely to come to the museum as visitors? Wouldn't their increased visitation encourage young Native Americans to go into museum careers? Its all connected. Another barrier to collaboration is the inherently political nature of it. Its certainly easier to avoid the issue than to risk engaging it. Your efforts could backfire, your curatorial authority may be undermined, you may have to face "ugly" aspects of your beloved town's history, you may be uncomfortable with cultural differences... Then again, it could be tremendously rewarding. Another can-o-worms... In what ways is it better for individual ethnic and religious communities to start their own museums rather than working with established "generic" museums? What would museums look like if there was no racism-- melting pot? or celebrating differences? I’m being deliberately controversial here because I can’t believe no one has commented on this important issue. Ill let you all jump in now! Carrie Beauchamp, Registrar (etc.) CFD Old West Museum Cheyenne, Wyoming (This rant certainly does NOT reflect the opinion of my employer!) ========================================================Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).