Last year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, MCN repurposed its planned in-person annual conference into a virtual experience. Thanks to the generous support of the Kress Foundation, MCN was also able to redesign its long running Scholarship Program to award scholarships to 10 qualified emerging professionals from the cultural sector. The grant allowed them to conduct research with the support of MCN’s Special Interest Groups, and the publication of a peer-reviewed paper of their findings.
Today, MCN is honored to present this publication: “What’s Emerging in the Field?: Essays from the MCN 2020 VIRTUAL Scholarship Program Recipients.” This volume contains 10 conference-inspired responses to the state of museum technology and sustainability in 2020, including essays, reflections, case studies, and conversations by 10 promising emerging professionals from the 2020 MCN Scholarship cohort. The topics explore areas as diverse as digital literacy in museum studies programs, GLAM educators adaption to virtual content, museums and open source, sustainability of digital tools, applying citizen science to digital museums, Indigenous materials and authority, film conservation, storytelling traditions, informal online learning spaces, and the ART | library deco, an online African American digital library.
We hope that this volume will continue to amplify the importance of the MCN Scholarship Program in fulfilling the mission of highlighting emerging professionals within the sector as a way to enriching and enhancing the MCN community and the field of practice.
“What’s Emerging in the Field?: Essays from the MCN 2020 VIRTUAL Scholarship Program Recipients.” is available for free online. It is also available for Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
Congratulations to the MCN 2020 Scholarship Recipients: Maria Arias, Emma Cantrell, Dillon Connelly, Emily Crum, Alexis Garretson, kYmberly Keeton, Houghton Kinsman, Dana Reijerkerk, Paulina Reizi, Julia Sager, and Lucia Taeubler.
The MCN 2020 Scholarship Committee
Eric Longo, Jessica BrodeFrank, and Isabel Sanz
