As we enter the second month of 2025 with some anxiety and trepidation about what lies ahead, here are three resources to inspire and encourage you to put people first, prioritize equity, and share the wealth moving forward.

This month, we’re reflecting on the importance of cultural context in shaping human experiences. Whether we’re assessing cognitive development, measuring program impact, or designing community spaces, context influences everything—from how we interpret behaviors to how we foster belonging.

What does it look like to give in a way that emphasizes inclusive and meaningful relationships rather than traditional, transactional approaches? This month, we share resources that underscore the importance of knowledge sharing, trust-based philanthropy, and repatriation as ways to promote a culture of giving and mutual respect.

This month we explore three resources that are focused on expanding perspectives and ensuring that different voices and needs are heard—whether it's women in design, underrepresented groups in Census data, or Gen Z in historical programming.

These three articles explore the evolving role of museums as spaces that go beyond an authoritarian curatorial voice to being community-centered spaces that encourage active meaning making by diverse audiences.

What’s the difference between the “real thing” and something simulated or superficial, and when does the distinction make a difference? This month, we explore this question by looking at true (versus token) relationship building, an AI-generated (versus living) artist, and dynamic (versus static) maps.

Intentional action improves personal and organizational practices. Our picks this month highlight using reflection, alignment, and purposeful decision-making to enhance effectiveness and well-being.

Not all transformation and change is loud and obvious. Sometimes change is so inconspicuous that we can’t see it at all.

These three resources explore hidden forces and systems, whether in museum strategy, technological infrastructure, or political art, urging us to look beyond the surface and consider the hidden forces shaping our world.

We are always thrilled to find museum experiences that strive to be inclusive and human-centered.

There are many different ways to integrate inclusive practices, as illustrated by these resources that highlight three innovative approaches to inclusion: universal design, mobile exhibitions, and collaborative processes in program evaluation.

This month, we highlight three articles from MuseumNext®, an organization that provides cutting-edge resources and events for museum professionals around the world.

These articles offer insights into the visitor experience with suggestions for writing great wall labels and infusing play and storytelling as key ingredients.

Our world is rapidly changing. It feels like you could blink and miss something important. Some of the changes, like AI, feel sudden and overwhelming, while other changes, like new rules by NAGPRA to speed up repatriation, feel like they’ve been a long time coming. 

It’s all too easy to reinforce the status quo. It’s exciting and powerful to challenge the status quo, to unlearn, and see anew. This month, we’re sharing resources to help you to think critically about something familiar and reimagine it from a different perspective.

This month, we highlight three anti-racism resources that challenge us to interrogate whiteness.

How can design be a tool of decolonization? How can we acknowledge privilege to help us dismantle systems of inequality? What can we as individuals do to confront our biases during difficult conversations?

As researchers who study how museums serve their audiences, we often encounter contradictions in how people make meaning from experiences. Humans are complicated and often grapple with conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.

This month, we share some resources that explore this complexity from a few different angles.

As we embark on the season of gratitude, we're filled with appreciation for each and every one of our readers.

Your enthusiasm for the musings, thoughts, and readings we curate here truly warms our hearts. Don’t hesitate to share our newsletter with friends and colleagues.

How you communicate something, whether through visual symbols, body language, or words, can mean the difference in whether or not people feel truly understood.

This month, we invite you to learn about culturally-responsive data visualization, the intimacy of a familiar gesture, and a delightfully funny take on national parks.

Being human-centered means putting people at the center of your work.

This month, our coffee break picks remind us of some of what makes us human: a desire to be accepted, the grace to be vulnerable, and the recognition of our individuality and complexity.

We’ve all heard the saying, “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.”

It’s a reminder of the importance of practicing radical empathy—listening actively, with curiosity rather than judgment, and remembering that everyone has a unique lived experience. This month, we’re sharing resources that help us see the world from different points of view and respect varied perspectives.

What makes ideas “stick?”

Our coffee break picks each month highlight ideas that have stuck with each of us for various reasons.  Maybe it resonated personally, triggered an emotional response, or was unexpected. We hope some of our picks this month “stick” with all of you. 

It can be tempting to take a shortcut or to try to get around doing something difficult.

But oftentimes, shortcuts and work-arounds do not lead to your desired outcome. This month, we share three very different resources that raise questions about what it takes to get stuff done.