Public Work is a new podcast based out of Brown University’s John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage. The Center’s mission is to create education, research, and public engagement initiatives that connect individuals and communities to art, history and culture. Produced by Center members Amelia Golcheski and Jim McGrath, Public Work builds on this mission by creating a place to share interesting people, projects, and questions that are currently shaping the worlds of public humanities.
Each episode features an interview where a member of the Center for Public Humanities community at Brown talks with someone doing exciting work in the field. Episode 1, “Ideas of Interpretation at The Smart Museum of Art” speaks with Michael Christiano, Deputy Director for Audience Engagement and Public Practice at The Smart Museum of Art in Chicago. Their conversation touches on some of the most pressing topics in the museum field: the changing definition of “interpretation”, questions of institutional relevancy faced by museums in the 21st century, and the roles museums can, and should play, in their own neighborhoods and communities.
New episodes are released every other Wednesday, and can be found on iTunes and on SoundCloud. Questions or comments? Get in touch on Twitter (@PublicWorkPod) or send an email: publicworkpodcast[at]gmail. Visit the podcast’s website at https://blogs.brown.edu/publicworkpodcast/.