CONFERENCE SESSION IN DC TO DISCUSS BRAVERY
On the opening day of the 2018 CAJM conference, museum professionals will address the topic of Bravery and Caution: Risk Taking in Museum Work  in a plenary session.  Laura Schiavo  (George Washington University) , Sean Kelly  ( Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site ) , Patty Rhule  ( Newseum ), Sharon Sahid  ( Cortina Productions ) and Lisa Yun Lee ( National Public Housing Museum ) will address how museums are challenging audiences as well as their own institutional culture. The panel will look at courage in museums today and will ask: When is risk-taking productive or counter productive? What institutional risks come with difficult or contested narratives? What perils and opportunities are inherent in presenting contemporary issues? The panel will explore balances between professional caution and action. Image: Maria Bryk/Newseum

TAKING A STAND 

Congratulations to the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center , whose new 4,000-square-foot Take a Stand Center will open on October 29th. It includes three new immersive, interactive galleries emphasizing social justice. The Center employs groundbreaking technology developed by USC Shoah Foundation that enables "conversations" with recorded Holocaust survivors via 3-D holography. The action-oriented Take a Stand Lab offers hands-on tools for affecting change, models activism styles, and provides a take-home toolkit for visitors. 

HURRICANE AFTERMATH 

The devastation wrought by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria remind us to be vigilant about disaster preparedness. The American Association of Museums has compiled a useful list of resources that range from water removal to condition assessment to salvage procedures, and a reference guide, Developing a Disaster Preparedness/Emergency Response Plan. If you would like to support museum peers who have been affected by these natural disasters, you might consider a donation through relief funds established by the American Association for State and Local History and the Association of Children's Museums.  Image courtesy National Geographic.

HONORS TO UPCOMING CONFERENCE PARTICIPANT

CAJM's  2018 conference in DC is proud to feature  Corine Wegener, Cultural Heritage Preservation Officer of the Smithsonian Institution and Chair of ICOM's Disaster Risk Management Committee. Be sure to hear her at our forthcoming conference session on International Cultural Property at Risk on February 26. Congratulations to Wegener on her recent award from the International Committee of the Blue Shield - which works to protect world cultural heritage threatened by natural and human-made disasters.

FIELD NOTES

Check out these upcoming online learning opportunities for you:  a two-part seminar on Project Management for History Professionals from the AASLH and a webinar on Inclusive Storytelling in Museums, presented by the AAM. ...  Also of note is a recent article in the New York Times: In an Era of Strife, Museums Collect History as It Happens. ... CAJM's website now features projects by members combating hate and anti-Semitism, as well as those on issues affecting refugees and immigrants.  Please let us know  about your own work in these areas.