Proposals due January 6, 2025 for the Fall 2025 Issue

Our editorial advisors will vet proposals in a blind review process, and you will be notified of acceptance or non-acceptance by February 3, 2025. Articles of 2,000 to 3,000 words maximum, along with high-resolution images, will be due in late March 2025.

Theme: Accessing The Museum: Reflecting On 35 Years Of ADA

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990. This landmark legislation extended civil rights protections to those with a wide range of conditions, ensuring that employers, public services, and public entities like businesses, schools, theaters, and museums could not discriminate against anyone with a disability—physical, cognitive, sensory, or otherwise.

Thirty-five years after its passage, many institutions have challenged themselves to make meaningful improvements, such as changing the design of their physical galleries, the sizes and formats of text labels, and the kinds of programs they offer to better ensure accessibility. Yet many accessibility barriers within museums remain. For example, audio description and tactile experiences are not ubiquitous to all museums; captions, especially for sounds and art installations, are often not present for people who are d/Deaf; and programmatic alternatives for people who cannot physically enter spaces are limited and not nearly as dynamic as the experience itself. And so, as the law celebrates its 35th anniversary, we ask: How far have we come in making our museums, exhibitions, and programs accessible to all? How far do we still have to go to move from granting access to creating truly inclusive environments that are engaging and welcoming for all?

For this issue, we seek articles that examine the many facets of accessible exhibition-making. We are particularly interested in highlighting specific projects or spaces that show how an institution’s understanding of access or anti-ableism has evolved and expanded over time, moving from adherence to ADA to an embrace of universal design and inclusive practice. Proposals might address:

• The pervasiveness of ableism within museums and how to begin to dismantle it
• The creation of accessibility guidelines that go beyond ADA and other applicable disability laws and standards to embrace a holistic understanding of what it takes to make an exhibition welcoming and inclusive for all visitors, while acknowledging that there is no one-size-fits-all solution
• Decision-making strategies that have helped to prioritize accessibility within an institution
• The importance of partnering with individuals within the disability community in prototyping and the creation of accessible exhibitions
• Evolving standards for universal and/or inclusive design, both physical and digital, and how these apply to exhibition elements like casework, graphics, interactives, and more
• The role of language in accessibility
• The role of multisensory interpretive strategies in creating accessible environments
• Designing for neurodiverse audiences
• Accessibility challenges encountered in a project and how they were addressed
• Navigating moments when interpretive or display strategies (e.g., displaying architectural elements in their original location or configuration) and accessibility requirements (e.g., accessible viewing heights) do not align in order to reach innovative and inclusive outcomes for all audiences

And, of course, this list is not exhaustive. Proposals can focus on a specific exhibition, provide an overview of exhibitions and practices, or offer an insightful review of current literature and other resources to help elucidate core practices. The exhibitions and/or elements discussed can be created by or for museums of all disciplines, historical sites, galleries, institutions that collect and display living collections, or others. Proposals might come from designers, exhibit developers, interpretive planners, curators, writers, educators, or others who create and contribute to exhibitions. We highly encourage contributions from disabled authors and/or co-authorship, particularly with user experts and/or accessibility partners, including those outside the museum field. In all cases, accepted authors will be expected to write articles that illuminate larger issues; are descriptive and critical and analytical; and evaluation, even if informal, must evidence arguments for the strengths and weaknesses of a project.

How to write and submit a proposal for the call for papers

There are two parts to a call for papers proposal (which must be submitted as a Word document):

Part 1: Description (400 words max)

The description must:

• Include a proposed title for the article (proposed titles should be brief, interesting, and illuminating).
• Clearly and succinctly convey what the article’s thesis will be.
• Indicate the approaches, strategies, or knowledge that readers will take away from the article.
• Convey how the article would raise questions or illuminate larger issues that are widely applicable (especially if the proposal focuses on a single project).

Please note that accepted articles will be expected to provide critical, candid discussions about issues and challenges, successes and failures, and to provide some level of evaluation and/or theoretical grounding.

Part 2: Brief Bio

Please provide a brief bio (no more than one paragraph) for each author that describes their background and qualifications for writing the article (please do not include resumes or CVs).

Send all proposals as Word documents via email to Jeanne Normand Goswami, Editor, Exhibition at: jeanne.goswami@gmail.com. Submissions from colleagues and students around the world are welcomed and encouraged.

Other ways to contribute

Would you like to contribute to Exhibition but don’t have a project that fits the call? We are looking for volunteers to contribute to the journal as book reviewers and exhibition critique writers.

What we’ll need:

If you are interested in being considered for these opportunities, please let us know:

• Your name, title/role, institution (if applicable), geographic location (so we can match you with exhibitions in your area), and any areas of particular interest or focus (e.g., are you a public history professional, art historian, scientist, or designer? Do you have experience with accessibility or DEAI?).
• Whether you are interested in writing book reviews, exhibition critiques, or both (NOTE: Book reviewers will receive a complimentary copy of the chosen book).
• If you have a specific idea in mind for either a book review or exhibition critique, please provide a brief (150-word max) description that includes why you think it would make a good addition to this issue (NOTE: you do not need to have a specific idea to be considered).

Please send requested information via email by January 6, 2025 to:

Jeanne Normand Goswami, Editor, Exhibition at: jeanne.goswami@gmail.com. Submissions from colleagues and students around the world are welcomed and encouraged.

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