For Immediate Release April 27, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

IUPUI Professors to Present Campus Program as Model during National Conference of Museum Professionals in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS - The American Association of Museums will hold its annual meeting May 1-5 at the Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.

Museum professionals from across the country, including IUPUI professors Matthew Groshek, Elizabeth Kryder-Reid and Larry Zimmerman, will participate in the event which has the theme of "A Defining Moment, Museums at the Crossroads."

Groshek, assistant professor of exhibition planning and design at Herron, and Zimmerman, professor of anthropology/museum studies in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, are presenters in the workshop "By the People, for the People: Museums Universities, and Public Scholarship." John Vanausdall, president and CEO of the Eiteljorg is also a presenter in the workshop.

Kryder-Reid, director of museum studies in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, will chair the "By the People, for the People" session which will explore questions about public scholarship using the IUPUI Public Scholars of Civic Engagement program as a model for joint staff appointments between local museums and universities. The session takes place from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m., Sunday, May 1 at the Convention Center.

The AAM is a nonprofit umbrella organization that connects museums around the country. About 4,000 of the group's 16,000 members are expected to participate in conference workshops and meetings at the Convention Center, along with special events held at various other locations, including the Indianapolis Children's Museum, the Eiteljorg and the IUPUI campus.

Keynote speakers for the conference include author Sherman Alexie and Bill Shore of Share Our Strength, an anti-hunger, anti-poverty effort.

For additional information about the annual event, call (202) 289-1818, or visit the Web site http://www.aam-us.org/am05/. ###