Taking a stand
Richard Sandell is a reluctant academic, but as the deputy director of museum studies at Leicester he can follow his passion for teaching and social inclusion, writes Felicity Heywood
This month, the museum studies department at the University of Leicester is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a reunion disco as part of its international conference called The Museum: A World Forum. But instead of strutting his stuff on the dance floor, the faculty's deputy director, Richard Sandell, will be exiting the country - stage left.
Sandell hasn't orchestrated the trip to avoid reminiscing with his colleagues. During Sandell's years in museums and academia he has developed his interest and made a name for himself in the social inclusion arena. As a result he will be delivering a paper on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) history at the American Association of Museums' conference in Boston, which takes place from 27 April to 1 May.
Sandell has recently returned from four months in Washington after being awarded a fellowship in museum practice from the Smithsonian Institution to research how museums combat prejudice. It followed on from similar research in Europe.
He also travelled to Canada and, in the US, to Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco to compare practice. The Smithsonian fellowship badge 'opened doors', he says, and enabled the exchange of ideas.
There was some surprise from the Smithsonian staff that he had chosen Washington's museum mile to research prejudice issues. 'There is an air of caution among museums that get federal funding and are right in the shadow of Congress,' says Sandell.
He was researching all forms of prejudice including race and disability but his own straw poll of the museums he visited showed that addressing sexuality proved the most problematic. 'There were some issues that museums were more likely to take a stand on. A museum that takes a stand on racism in America is unlikely to be publicly condemned.'
He found pockets of good practice in many museums he visited, but there was a lot of media debate around LGBT issues, much as Britain had in the late 1980s and 1990s around Clause 28.
He spent a lot of time talking to the staff and visitors at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (not part of the Smithsonian). The museum had decided that it was time to examine the treatment that the Nazis meted out to homosexuals. Though the subject is briefly covered in the museum's permanent space, it was given greater thought in a temporary exhibition.
For Sandell, museums can challenge audiences by being clear about where they stand on an issue. 'I think there are some issues that we in museums can all agree on,' he says, fully aware that his views are unfashionable in museum circles.
'But I think it would be appropriate for museums to adopt a standpoint on some issues. I would be uncomfortable with moralising. I'm all for presenting different voices on an issue to some degree, but we shouldn't use objectivity as a veil to avoid taking a stand.'
Sandell started this research six years ago for his PhD. It grew out of museums across the globe increasingly claiming that they were places of understanding and tolerance. 'This was something I always believed but there was little evidence of how it was achieved,' says Sandell.
So he focused on visitors' views at two museums whose social mission is to combat prejudice - the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
He says St Mungo is not a neutral museum because it puts forward the view that people should understand and respect all people no matter what their faith, or lack of it. And he likes it for that. 'Throwing that out to audiences doesn't stifle audiences.' He found that people drew on what they saw, and felt the museum to be authoritative.
And it didn't stop visitors having their own opinions. Some questioned the inclusion of Islam (because of the current war) as a religion to stand equally with the other world religions. 'I believe museums frame conversations that people have on difference.' Washington was a chance to bounce his findings off others.
His PhD research is now complete and he has submitted his thesis to the University of Sheffield. The research will be brought together in a book, his first as sole author, which will be published at the end of the year. Completing both his doctorate and his book should not be underestimated. Sandell has had nine years in academia but he says, with tongue loosely in cheek: 'I still feel like a new boy'.
He says he has always struggled with academia: 'I was never a high flyer at any point.' He says it was daunting arriving in a department containing people who had written the books that defined the
field.
His was an unconventional entry, recruited for his project and practitioner experience (he was previously the marketing manager at Nottingham City Museums and Art Galleries). 'It's been a big learning curve and I'm still trying to become an academic.'
Getting his PhD will help towards that goal, if only to make his achievement more concrete in his own mind, given that his university mail is now often addressed to Dr Sandell.
Sandell says that being appointed the deputy director three years ago was the way that the director of the museum studies department, Simon Knell, nurtured his development.
And his book will be another necessary marker in the world of academia, especially in preparation for the director's job. The directorship rotates among the department - although his colleagues will have to vote for him before he gets the chance at it.
He says he wants to become a better researcher and be on a stronger footing before Knell steps down. And of course he will have to become less anxious about managing his previous managers. He did get a taste of those lofty heights in 2004 when he was the acting director for a few months when Knell was on study leave.
For now his time is broken up into writing teaching materials in museum practice, marketing and management; supervising PhD students; research; and administration. He is clearly passionate about teaching and says he missed it while in the US.
He came to the museum sector via administering grants at English Heritage and supplementing his income with cold calling in the evening to sell conservatories. But it helped him decide that he longed for a more creative direction and he says he still draws on his experience in his management lectures.
At Leicester he has had a close working relationship with Jocelyn Dodd, the deputy director of the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries. They have co-written and edited a number of books and papers after originally working together at Nottingham, where Sandell started as a volunteer in marketing and public services.
He says Nottingham was the place to be in the 1990s in terms of its strong temporary exhibitions and expanding audiences. Marketing and education were easy bedfellows and good work was done on the representation of disability.
The partnership continues with the second phase of Buried in the Footnotes, a research project to look into the representation of disabled people in museum collections. They are waiting to hear if a Heritage Lottery Fund bid of £360,000 has been successful. Nine organisations including Glasgow's Museum of Transport, Colchester Museums and the Whitby Museum will work as partners on individual projects and exhibitions.
Sandell will be around for the first couple of days of the 40th anniversary conference but he is not speaking and has no obvious involvement. When I ask why, he suddenly gets tongue-tied, blames it on a dry mouth and heads off to put the kettle on.
We are about an hour and a half into the interview (so I guess a dry mouth is perfectly feasible) and we are in his office on one of the upper floors of the two adjacent Victorian buildings where students come for their tutorials. He has some framed photos on his mantelpiece and bookcase, and the room shows his penchant for ceramics, pots mostly.
Leaning up against the fireplace is a striking framed poster of a 2001 exhibition at the University of Nottingham called Men's Bodies, showing a man from the back wearing a bra. He comes back with our drinks and dives in with his answer to my question.
The three-day conference is Knell's project and he wanted an international focus and, Sandell continues, there are a number of academics in the department who are speaking. Seems fair enough, though international and research go hand-in-hand with Sandell's recent projects.
But he has enough to fill his time this spring. This month he will be marking his ten-year relationship in a civil partnership ceremony in Nottingham. Sandell says he has never sought to hide his sexuality but writing his PhD thesis has been like 'a formal coming out', allowing him to make his standpoint clear.
He recalls when he got the job someone saying that he shouldn't stay out of museums too long. But it seems, even with all the challenges, he has found his place. 'I have never felt more connected with museums. I get to work with a range of museums and hear about international issues through students and research projects.'
And there is a certain level of power that perhaps is not as available to those who have to be focused on running one museum: 'Because my research is closely driven by questions that museums should be addressing, it's neatly dovetailed. There's something in me that likes the interplay between research and teaching; it allows you to introduce new ideas and concepts.'
More details at www.le.ac.uk/ms/professional/conferences.htm
Sandell hasn't orchestrated the trip to avoid reminiscing with his colleagues. During Sandell's years in museums and academia he has developed his interest and made a name for himself in the social inclusion arena. As a result he will be delivering a paper on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) history at the American Association of Museums' conference in Boston, which takes place from 27 April to 1 May.
Sandell has recently returned from four months in Washington after being awarded a fellowship in museum practice from the Smithsonian Institution to research how museums combat prejudice. It followed on from similar research in Europe.
He also travelled to Canada and, in the US, to Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco to compare practice. The Smithsonian fellowship badge 'opened doors', he says, and enabled the exchange of ideas.
There was some surprise from the Smithsonian staff that he had chosen Washington's museum mile to research prejudice issues. 'There is an air of caution among museums that get federal funding and are right in the shadow of Congress,' says Sandell.
He was researching all forms of prejudice including race and disability but his own straw poll of the museums he visited showed that addressing sexuality proved the most problematic. 'There were some issues that museums were more likely to take a stand on. A museum that takes a stand on racism in America is unlikely to be publicly condemned.'
He found pockets of good practice in many museums he visited, but there was a lot of media debate around LGBT issues, much as Britain had in the late 1980s and 1990s around Clause 28.
He spent a lot of time talking to the staff and visitors at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (not part of the Smithsonian). The museum had decided that it was time to examine the treatment that the Nazis meted out to homosexuals. Though the subject is briefly covered in the museum's permanent space, it was given greater thought in a temporary exhibition.
For Sandell, museums can challenge audiences by being clear about where they stand on an issue. 'I think there are some issues that we in museums can all agree on,' he says, fully aware that his views are unfashionable in museum circles.
'But I think it would be appropriate for museums to adopt a standpoint on some issues. I would be uncomfortable with moralising. I'm all for presenting different voices on an issue to some degree, but we shouldn't use objectivity as a veil to avoid taking a stand.'
Sandell started this research six years ago for his PhD. It grew out of museums across the globe increasingly claiming that they were places of understanding and tolerance. 'This was something I always believed but there was little evidence of how it was achieved,' says Sandell.
So he focused on visitors' views at two museums whose social mission is to combat prejudice - the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
He says St Mungo is not a neutral museum because it puts forward the view that people should understand and respect all people no matter what their faith, or lack of it. And he likes it for that. 'Throwing that out to audiences doesn't stifle audiences.' He found that people drew on what they saw, and felt the museum to be authoritative.
And it didn't stop visitors having their own opinions. Some questioned the inclusion of Islam (because of the current war) as a religion to stand equally with the other world religions. 'I believe museums frame conversations that people have on difference.' Washington was a chance to bounce his findings off others.
His PhD research is now complete and he has submitted his thesis to the University of Sheffield. The research will be brought together in a book, his first as sole author, which will be published at the end of the year. Completing both his doctorate and his book should not be underestimated. Sandell has had nine years in academia but he says, with tongue loosely in cheek: 'I still feel like a new boy'.
He says he has always struggled with academia: 'I was never a high flyer at any point.' He says it was daunting arriving in a department containing people who had written the books that defined the
field.
His was an unconventional entry, recruited for his project and practitioner experience (he was previously the marketing manager at Nottingham City Museums and Art Galleries). 'It's been a big learning curve and I'm still trying to become an academic.'
Getting his PhD will help towards that goal, if only to make his achievement more concrete in his own mind, given that his university mail is now often addressed to Dr Sandell.
Sandell says that being appointed the deputy director three years ago was the way that the director of the museum studies department, Simon Knell, nurtured his development.
And his book will be another necessary marker in the world of academia, especially in preparation for the director's job. The directorship rotates among the department - although his colleagues will have to vote for him before he gets the chance at it.
He says he wants to become a better researcher and be on a stronger footing before Knell steps down. And of course he will have to become less anxious about managing his previous managers. He did get a taste of those lofty heights in 2004 when he was the acting director for a few months when Knell was on study leave.
For now his time is broken up into writing teaching materials in museum practice, marketing and management; supervising PhD students; research; and administration. He is clearly passionate about teaching and says he missed it while in the US.
He came to the museum sector via administering grants at English Heritage and supplementing his income with cold calling in the evening to sell conservatories. But it helped him decide that he longed for a more creative direction and he says he still draws on his experience in his management lectures.
At Leicester he has had a close working relationship with Jocelyn Dodd, the deputy director of the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries. They have co-written and edited a number of books and papers after originally working together at Nottingham, where Sandell started as a volunteer in marketing and public services.
He says Nottingham was the place to be in the 1990s in terms of its strong temporary exhibitions and expanding audiences. Marketing and education were easy bedfellows and good work was done on the representation of disability.
The partnership continues with the second phase of Buried in the Footnotes, a research project to look into the representation of disabled people in museum collections. They are waiting to hear if a Heritage Lottery Fund bid of £360,000 has been successful. Nine organisations including Glasgow's Museum of Transport, Colchester Museums and the Whitby Museum will work as partners on individual projects and exhibitions.
Sandell will be around for the first couple of days of the 40th anniversary conference but he is not speaking and has no obvious involvement. When I ask why, he suddenly gets tongue-tied, blames it on a dry mouth and heads off to put the kettle on.
We are about an hour and a half into the interview (so I guess a dry mouth is perfectly feasible) and we are in his office on one of the upper floors of the two adjacent Victorian buildings where students come for their tutorials. He has some framed photos on his mantelpiece and bookcase, and the room shows his penchant for ceramics, pots mostly.
Leaning up against the fireplace is a striking framed poster of a 2001 exhibition at the University of Nottingham called Men's Bodies, showing a man from the back wearing a bra. He comes back with our drinks and dives in with his answer to my question.
The three-day conference is Knell's project and he wanted an international focus and, Sandell continues, there are a number of academics in the department who are speaking. Seems fair enough, though international and research go hand-in-hand with Sandell's recent projects.
But he has enough to fill his time this spring. This month he will be marking his ten-year relationship in a civil partnership ceremony in Nottingham. Sandell says he has never sought to hide his sexuality but writing his PhD thesis has been like 'a formal coming out', allowing him to make his standpoint clear.
He recalls when he got the job someone saying that he shouldn't stay out of museums too long. But it seems, even with all the challenges, he has found his place. 'I have never felt more connected with museums. I get to work with a range of museums and hear about international issues through students and research projects.'
And there is a certain level of power that perhaps is not as available to those who have to be focused on running one museum: 'Because my research is closely driven by questions that museums should be addressing, it's neatly dovetailed. There's something in me that likes the interplay between research and teaching; it allows you to introduce new ideas and concepts.'
More details at www.le.ac.uk/ms/professional/conferences.htm