CALL FOR PROPOSALS "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 to download the session proposal form as a Microsoft Word document or as a PDF file. 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 New York State. Each year it brings together a diverse array of individuals from all types and sizes of museums, historical societies, and similar cultural organizations. ========================================================= 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).