Call for Proposals – Small Museum Association

The Small Museum Association is planning its 36th annual conference, which will be held in College Park, Maryland February 16-18, 2020. As the only conference in the country dedicated specifically to small museums, this gathering draws museum professionals, board members, and volunteers from across the country.

This year, the SMA conference will offer sessions that address the theme: “Catalysts of Social Change: Honoring the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage.”

Several different types of session proposals are sought:

• 60-minute session — individual speaker, panel presentation, or round-table discussion
• 90-minute workshop — in-depth, experiential, hands-on learning

Presentations should address issues of social activism in small museums and explore a wide range of social concerns (socioeconomic issues, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ageism, ableism, etc.) in honor of the work behind the women’s suffrage movement. Sessions should help attendees learn from your institutions’ successes and failures, how your institution handles difficult topics, the ways your organization is working to become more equitable and provide ideas and actions for making an impact. The SMA Conference Committee is requesting that panels reflect the diverse communities that museums serve. SMA Conference Attendees tend to like practical sessions with roadmaps for implementation at their own sites.

The SMA Conference Committee is requesting that panels reflect the diverse communities that museums serve.

Deadline for submissions is Friday, September 20, 2019. Apply at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScQfigsjs0kueFr5tYjZYpJmXzKMJnU00WBgZ38N07QCcpj1g/viewform