Master's Thesis

Abstract: Museums, as historically exclusive spaces, are in a moment of reassessment—reevaluating their relevance to their surrounding communities and their audiences. Museums, overall, strive to provide comfort, but often don’t provide for the diversity of abilities of people that come through their doors. How can looking at the museum more holistically provide opportunities for the co-creative planning of institutional spaces? 

This research draws from a broad field of study that includes various design methodologies, accessibility and inclusion, and civility and social infrastructure. Examples of this ideology come from both larger museum projects,  as well as smaller moments throughout the space, and are framed in conversations with museum professionals who are actively striving to create in these ideals, often without defining them as such. This thesis provides a framework for designing with civility that is not a checklist, but an introduction to tools that help prototype change in the museum.

By driving home the power of human connectedness and providing spaces to those often excluded from the conversation, this civil approach reinforces the need to better empathize with and understand audiences, relationships, and how civility works within the broader museum system.