This programme provides the students with a set of outstanding case study in how libraries, museums, and information services engage with diverse populations both in their everyday functioning and in their attempts at creating innovative programs and resources.
Outside of the classroom, participants will get to take part in field trips and site visits to museums, libraries, and historical sites as part of their immersion in Dutch culture as well as to see how these institutions further their educational functions. The course itself will examine how innovation works in library, information, and museum services, practices, and designs in the Netherlands and Belgium. It will look at what, exactly, “innovation” means in institutional settings; the interplay between culture and values in program design; the ways libraries and museums work with diversity, equity, and inclusion; research, assessment, and the process of making a case for innovation; and innovation-focused program assessment. They will also look at digital humanities and digital scholarship in general and the role(s) they play in innovation in the contemporary library and museum worlds. They will explore these in topics as well as questions of how the cultural-heritage sector deals with the legacy of colonialism, neo-liberalism, and contemporary social problems in both the Netherlands and the U.S.
