Liz Baird, who started Take a Child Outside Week, contacted us with this Call for Papers. Please participate if you are interested. Certainly there is less of a connection between children and what they see in museums, so long as they continue to lose touch with their natural world and fail to see the connection.

Museums & Social Issues

Call for Papers Vol. 4 (2)

Losing Touch with Nature (working title)

Deadline: May 15, 2009. Deadline extended.
Authors are encouraged to contact editor prior to submission.

Museums & Social Issues is a peer-reviewed journal published by Left Coast Press, Inc. The journal
provides a forum for discourse about social issues and the engagement of museums in those issues.
Each journal includes theoretical, philosophical, and practical perspectives.

Museums have the ability to motivate communities to re-connect with nature and become
responsible stewards of their surroundings. There is a growing body of literature about behavior
change, cognition, motivations and public experiences with nature, but much of this literature
remains unknown to the museum practitioner. This publication will provide a forum to bring
together diverse areas of study relevant to understanding our human connection with nature,
implications of losing that connection and role of museums in facilitating connections with the
natural environment. Insightful articles addressing (synthesizing and analyzing) any aspect of the
interaction between museums and nature are welcome and encouraged.
Articles addressing the following topics are particularly desired:
‘¢ Areas of research and literature that speak to understanding the complex relationships
between people and nature
‘¢ Museums hold material culture in the public trust’”to what extent does this include the
natural environment around us?
‘¢ Examples of museums facilitating interaction with nature
‘¢ Examples of engaging adult audiences in nature experiences
‘¢ Discussions of non-museum efforts or partnerships
‘¢ Projects or initiatives that connect the out of doors with the museum interior

To receive more information or to become involved as an author, reviewer or advisor,
contact Kris Morrissey at (206) 685-8207.

About the editors: This issue will be co-edited by Elizabeth Baird, North Carolina Museum of
Natural Sciences. Liz started international Take A Child Outside Week (Sept 23-30) after reading Last
Child in the Woods by Richard Louv and in response to the disconnect that exists between children
and nature. As Director of School Programs, Liz and her staff introduce hundreds of teachers and
thousands of children to the wonders of the natural world each year.