Museums as Sites of Healing: Community Co-Curation and Restorative Placemaking

Mark Auslander, Ph.D., serves as director of the Michigan State University Museum (MSUM) and is an associate professor of Anthropology and History at Michigan State University (MSU, East Lansing, Michigan) . Dr. Auslander directed the CWU Museum of Culture and Environment from 2011-17. When he arrived at MSU in mid-2017, the community was shaken by the largest sexual abuse scandal in the history of American higher education, centered on crimes perpetrated by a university sports physician over a three-decade period. Over the past 18 months, Dr. Auslander and his museum colleagues have partnered with sister-survivors of this crisis, to create a collaboratively co-curated exhibition  “Finding our Voice: Sister Survivors Speak.” In this presentation Dr. Auslander reflects on lessons learned about trauma-informed exhibition development, and how responsible community co-curation can help engage individuals and communities in vital healing journeys. How should museums responsibly partner in giving voice to survivors of gender-based and sexual violence in ways that are respectful and empowering for diverse survivors and their allies?