New Lecturer joins the iSchool

Kristine Morrissey is director of the Museology Graduate Program and comes to the iSchool with an interest in exploring and strengthening the shared knowledge and practices across the work of museums and libraries.

"I see great potential for advancing the impact of museums and libraries and I am excited to begin to explore the intersections between Museology and the iSchool,” says Morrissey about her new lecturer position.

Morrissey is founding editor of the journal Visitor Studies, the publication of the Visitor Studies Association, an organization with which she has been heavily involved for two decades. She is also the founding editor of the peer-reviewed journal Museums & Social Issues, a unique journal that explores the ways museums have engaged in the enduring and complex issues and questions facing our society.

Her research includes serving as principal investigator for New Directions: Research, Service and Academics in Visitor Studies, a project that will prepare a new generation of evaluators and museum practitioners through an innovative apprentice-styled laboratory that integrates the strengths of mentoring, fieldwork, academics and client-centered experiences. Led by the University of Washington's Museology Program and joined by partners the Woodland Park Zoo and the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments Center (LIFE), New Directions will develop a model of university and community collaboration. The project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services 21st Century Museum Professionals Program.

Morrissey has a Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Educational Psychology and currently teaches courses in research, social issues, informal learning, and public programming.