Addressing Descriptive Language in Collections Care
What does it mean to decolonize language within the context of cultural resources management (i.e. collections care)? In this webinar you will learn how staff at the Museum of Us have undertaken this complex challenge, prioritized their work within an ever evolving framework of decolonizing initiatives, and learned valuable lessons along the way.
Please note that this program will take place over two days:
Monday, February 28th, 2pm-3pm ET: Webinar/Q&A with speakers
Tuesday, March 1st, 2pm-3pm ET: Discussion session
Addressing Descriptive Language in Collections Care is the fifth session in CCAHA's Let's Talk About That: Dialogue and Change in Collections Care series. The aim of this series is to assist in building a DEIA infrastructure within collections care that can be sustainable beyond this moment in history. Each session will focus on a different issue facing the field and will be comprised of two components: a traditional webinar with a speaker highlighting their own observations in the field, and- the following day- a community dialogue led by facilitator, Sarah Pharaon. The goal is not to present a definitive guidebook on these topics, but rather to build this guide together as a community. As each topic is discussed and processed as a group, key takeaways will be compiled and used to build a publicly-available resource document that can serve as a toolkit for individuals looking to begin or expand this work at their own organizations.
The toolkit will be continually updated throughout the duration of this program- click here to explore the sections that have been released thus far, or visit our event page to register for other sessions in this series.
About the Speaker:
Kara Vetter, Director of Cultural Resources, Museum of Us
Kara Vetter is the Director of Cultural Resources at the Museum of Us in San Diego, CA, located on the unceded ancestral homelands of the Kumeyaay Nation. In collaboration with Indigenous stakeholders and museum leadership, Kara leads a team of dedicated cultural resource management professional who strive to create and implement culturally sensitive care policies and practices that center Indigenous sovereignty and traditional knowledge within a decolonizing initiatives context. Currently, Kara sets on the Board of the Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists (ARCS), is part of the ENRICH Cultural Institutions Network, and is an active participant the Indigenous Collections Care working group.