Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies (SCEMS)
Stephanie Norby, Director
The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies (SCEMS) offers programs for educators, students, and museum professionals and manages the Institution’s central education website, www.smithsonianeducation.org. The Center partners with universities and other organizations to explore new ways of learning such as online gaming and mobile applications, and it offers professional development to the Smithsonian community on these topics.
The Center’s outreach to national and global audiences includes distance-learning series, Smithsonian Online Education Conferences, the Shout Global Environmental Initiative, and it also publishes Smithsonian in Your Classroom, which it distributes free of charge to schools in all 50 states. In addition to its efforts in the K-12 education community, the Center conducts an enrichment program for select faculty members at a local community college. It also produces five Heritage Family Days in collaboration with the units, to bring thousands of parents and children into the museums for interdisciplinary, participatory programs.
Fellowships in Museum Practice
The Smithsonian’s Fellowships in Museum Practice program is a professional development opportunity for experienced museum practitioners, academics, and training providers. The program, unique in the museum profession worldwide, supports research about issues of theory and practice in education, curation, exhibition, administration, and other museum functions and disciplines. The purpose of the program is to serve as a catalyst for helping expand the intellectual resources and networking capacities of museums and their personnel – conditions necessary for fostering inspiration, innovation, and ultimately, the production of new scholarship. It is not a training program or a collection survey tool.
Fellowships are awarded annually for a period of up to six months. An award consists of a stipend of $3,500 per month plus round-trip travel expenses between the recipient’s home and Washington, D.C. For further information see http://museumstudies.si.edu/fmp.htm.
PROGRAM STAFF
ENGELKE, Stevie, Director of Programs. B.A. (1968) ; M.A. (1970) Columbia University; M.A. (1995) The George Washington University. Research specialties: art education; professional development for educators (museum and school); incorporating museum resources into curriculum.
MONACO, Pino, Education Outcomes Manager. M.D. (1983) University of Naples, Italy; Ph.D. (1991); MLS/M.A. (2004) University of Oklahoma. Research specialties: audience research and evaluation.
NORBY, Stephanie, Director. B.S. (1973) University of California, Davis; M.A. (1982) University of Missouri. Research specialties: Family history and history of education.
RAPPOPORT, Philippa, Community Outreach Manager, Ph.D. (1998) University of Virginia. Research specialties: life-cycle and agrarian ritual, folktales, material culture.
SMITH, Michelle K., Director, Publications and Electronic Media. B.A. (1971) Cleveland State University; M.A. (1975) Pennsylvania State University. Research specialties: Writing and editing.
SPINALE, Tracie C., Academic Programs Manager, B.A. (1996) Beloit College; M.A. (1998) George Washington University. Research specialties: internship programs, museum studies.
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