Abstract
As we hopefully transition to a post-COVID-19 world, all vocations will experience an influx of newly disabled participants, museums included. To be newly disabled is a uniquely liminal experience—as one grapples with the limitations of one’s body, one also has to learn to navigate perilous physical systems which were previously not encumbrances. Stairs, long walks, uneven terrain, and even restrictions on when and how to eat or drink or go to the bathroom can impede a researcher’s ability to carry out their work. Museums are wonderful and welcoming resources for scholars performing necessary research. However, often the collections are not accessible for scholars with disabilities, being up or down staircases, in cold, small spaces, where wheelchairs will not fit, or restrictive of food and hydration, due to the nature of the artifacts. Expectations are often not communicated before the scholar visits, leading to interesting but untimely and uncomfortable improvisations on the date of access. Often this lack of accessibility is due to the age of the building housing the collections, however, when these structural exceptions are taken as the last word on the subject rather than used to spur on creative ways to ensure that all scholars, regardless of ability level, can safely and comfortably access the space, we set scholars up for limited research capacities. This paper addresses experiences in anonymized non-accessible collections spaces, and suggest ways in which standards of accessibility can be raised to address concerns had by disabled scholars, current and future.
Presenters
Rebecca GibsonAdjunct Instructor of Biological Anthropology, School of World Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Indiana, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Disability, Museum Access, Accessibility, Collection Visitors
