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About Me

Linda is Global Networks Program Director at the International Coalition of Historic Sites of Conscience, a global network of historic sites, museums, and memory initiatives connecting past struggles to today’s movements for human rights and social justice.  She facilitates the work of Sites of Conscience around the world, building networks and capacity among the more than 250 members in 60 countries.

She is an adjunct instructor in the Johns Hopkins University’s online Museum Studies and Cultural Heritage Programs teaching courses in community engagement and interpretation.

Linda was an independent museum professional for more than twenty years, facilitating conversation and action about the ways creativity can transform museums, shape more compelling narratives and create deeper, more inclusive community connections. She is the co-author with Rainey Tisdale of Creativity in Museum Practice and blogs at The Uncataloged Museum. Linda was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Ukraine in 2009 and continues work in that region. In 2016 she facilitated a series of museum practice seminars in Latvia and in 2018 was co-teacher of the Balkan Museology School.  She served as a senior expert co-reporting on the state of Ukraine’s cultural heritage sector for the Culture and Creativity Project of the EU-Eastern Partnership Programme, also in 2016.

In the United States and Canada, Linda brought her curiosity and passion to transformative work with museums, historic sites, and other organizations and businesses. For example, her clients have included the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, Connecticut, the Sir William Coaker Foundation in Newfoundland, Canada, the American Swedish Institute, the American Association for State and Local History, and Context Travel, a global travel company.  She has led teams in re-interpretation of historic sites and coordinated exhibition projects from concept to installation.

In addition to Creativity in Museum Practice, Linda has written articles for Exhibition, History News, Museums and Social Issues, and publications in Ukraine. She is a frequent keynoter and conference presenter, most recently having spoken on Practices of dealing with difficult pasts: Creative memory works” at the Hrant Dink Foundation in Istanbul, Turkey, keynoted the Midwest Museums Conference and shared her failures in the session, “Mistakes Were Made,” at the 2016 AAM meeting.

Linda holds an M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program and an undergraduate degree in American History from Cornell University.

Recent Publications

• The Uncataloged Museum blog, 2007-  Blogging on a wide range of museum and community issues, regularly read by a global audience.
• “Developing a Toolkit for Emotion in Museums”, co-author with Rainey Tisdale, Exhibition, Spring 2017, pages 100-108
• Book Review, “Museums Without Borders: Selected Writings of Robert R. Janes by Robert R. Janes,” Museum Management and Curatorship, Volume: 31, Issue: 04, pages 402 – 404.
• “Facing Backward to Move Forward,” Agora, Kennan Institute Wilson Center, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2015, 33-36.
• “On the Streets and in the Galleries: Responsive Exhibits in Ukraine,” co-author with Christi Anne Hofland, Exhibitionist, Spring 2015, 22-26.
• “How Do We Train Professionals for 21st Century Museums?” Historical and Cultural Studies, L’viv Polytechnical University, 2015
• “Creating a Dialogic Museum of Maidan,” Prostir Museum (Museum Space) Kyiv, Ukraine: Center for Museum Development, 2014.
• Co-Author, with Rainey Tisdale, Creativity in Museum Practice. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press, 2013.

Media Coverage

https://hrantdink.org/en/activities/projects/site-of-memory/1302-practices-of-dealing-with-difficul-pasts-creative-memory-works-panel-was-organized

Social Media

lindabnorris

Country Focus

United States, Ukraine

Expertise by Geography

Eastern Europe, United States

Expertise by Chronology

20th century, 21st century

Expertise by Topic

Local & Regional, Museums, Public History