Abstract
This paper, based on my chapter for the Routledge Handbook of Museum and Heritage Education (2025), explores how museums can serve as spaces for healing, helping visitors navigate grief, and fostering empathy and inclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified collective experiences of loss, underscoring the need for inclusive spaces that address and process grief. Loss manifests in various forms – such as the loss of health, meaningful relationships, and forced migration – and often remains socially neglected or overlooked, leaving individuals unsupported in their grieving process. Museums, as public institutions, have begun to embrace their role in supporting emotional well-being by offering programs that help individuals process their grief, adapt to life after loss, and build connections within their communities. This presentation draws on participatory learning theory, object-based learning frameworks, and grief studies to explore the transformative role museums play in nurturing empathy and social connection. Through three case studies—the Anchorage Museum (USA), the Whitworth (UK), and the Museum of Loss (UK)—the paper highlights how museums create inclusive spaces for reflection and healing. These case studies focus on addressing environmental loss, baby loss, and displacement and demonstrate how museums can engage visitors in empathetic, community-oriented experiences that support emotional well-being. By fostering an open, inclusive environment for visitors to process grief, museums can promote healing and resilience. This research emphasises the importance of creating spaces where every visitor feels seen, heard, and supported in their personal and collective journey through loss.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
MUSEUMS, VISITORS, STAKEHOLDERS, DIVERSITY, CULTURE, DIASPORA, EDUCATION, COMMUNICATIONS
