There is a creationist group in Kansas City that comes to our museum every year or so to lead a tour through the galleries. The leader of the group expounds on how wrong the labels are in light of young earth creationism. A couple of staff members of tagged along with the group and videotaped part of the tour--what the leader has to say is the usual creationist nonsense. Because we are a public institution, we have never restricted private tours of our public spaces, with the exception of safety considerations (number allowed in the gallery, etc.). John E. Simmons Collection Manager, Natural History Museum and Coordinator, Museum Studies Program University of Kansas Dyche Hall 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561 Telephone 785-864-4508 FAX 785-864-5335 [log in to unmask] www.ku.edu/~museumst/ -----Original Message----- From: Richard Urban [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Sunday, October 20, 2002 5:50 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: B.C. (Biblically Correct) Tours of Museums Hi all, A few weeks back someone had posted a question about modifying a museum's tour program for a Christian group. This week's Denver Westword includes an article about a firm that offers independent "Biblically Correct" tours of museums and other "cultural temples." http://www.westword.com/issues/2002-10-17/feature.html/1/index.html Setting aside the obvious arguements here, I was wondering whether this approach had been used elsewhere. Did anyone offer *organized* tours of the Enola Gay exhibit providing interpretations not included in the exhibit? What if a group showed up at Monticello presenting their interpretation of the Sally Hemmings case? I've seen many of these things debated in print or heard of organized protests, but not groups actively coming in and presenting their side of the story. The article talks a little about one local insitutions "freedom of speech" polcies - have many other institutions created such a policy? Richard Urban [log in to unmask] ========================================================= 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). ========================================================= 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).