Date of Award

Spring 5-20-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA Museum Professions

Department

Communication and the Arts

Advisor

Gregory Stevens, M.A.T.

Committee Member

Renee Robinson, Ph.D.

Committee Member

McKenna Schray, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ruth Tsuria, Ph.D.

Keywords

museum, community, latino, hispanic, public health, emergency

Abstract

Museums are held in the public trust and are accountable to their communities, including minority groups such as the Latinx population. Despite this, museums struggle to engage with Latinx communities, who are particularly affected during and after a crisis or emergency. Currently, museums do not have professional guidelines on supporting community resilience, or a community’s ability to respond to and recover from a crisis. In contrast, libraries, which function as similar community organizations, have field-wide community resilience plans and professional librarians have actively researched how libraries can assist their communities after a significant crisis. Using a multi-case library and museum comparative study of the Louisiana State University Shelter Library after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Queens Public Library of Queens, New York after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Orange County Regional History Center in response to the 2016 Orlando, Florida Pulse Nightclub Shooting, and the National Museum of Mexican Art of Chicago, Illinois during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021, this project aimed to identify how museums may improve post-crisis outreach in Latinx communities and become integral to community resilience.

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