Preparing for the Museum Studies Ethics BowlPreparing for the Museum Studies Ethics Bowl(adapted from Preparing for the SAA Ethics Bowl by Janet E. Levy, with her generous permission)
In recent years, museum professional have begun to confront a range of ethical issues—the conundrum of looted objects appearing in museum collections, interactions with descendent communities, the complications of museums operated as businesses. How the next generation of professionals chose to address these and other ethical dilemmas will define museum studies and practice—what it offers and what it does—in the new millennium.
By implementing the Ethics Bowl in our Introduction to Museum Studies class we hope to help students gain a sense of ethical responsibility and give them the tools to tackle professional ethics in an enjoyable setting. During the Ethics Bowl, teams of graduate and/or undergraduate students debate case studies which illuminate a variety of ethical issues in modern museum practice. Student teams will consist of three individuals, guided by at least one "coach."
Many students are likely to ask the question: how should our team prepare? So, to help students and coaches get ready for the Museum Studies Ethics Bowl, we offer some suggestions developed by Dr. Janet Levy for students preparing for an Ethics Bowl competition in archaeology.
The Competition
About three weeks before each of the three planned ethics bowls, teams are
provided with several hypothetical cases, each revolving around one or more
ethical dilemmas. The teams prepare their response to each case study, although
they do not know which case studies will be used during the competition. Each
team should be prepared to (a) answer a general question about one case per
round, from the moderator; (b) propose a question to the alternate team about
one case per round; (c) respond to questions from the three judges about the
case which is under discussion and/or respond to one question from the alternate
team. There are time constraints on each response.
The three judges score each team on intelligibility, depth, focus, and judgment. Two preliminary rounds are held, with the finalists challenging each other at the end of the class periods, which is open to all class members.
Preparation
Be sure to look at various codes of ethics that have been established by different museum organizations. Team members need to be able, with only a few minutes lead time, to craft an oral presentation that is focused and effective, and refers to relevant supporting data. So, you should study the literature of museum ethics. In addition, you will have readings in class that relate to the issues. Team members and coaches also can consult other literature. At very least you should familiarize yourself with the following ethics codes:
The International Council of Museums Code of Ethics
The American Association of Museums Code of Ethics for Museums and associated documents on the Museum Ethics page of the AAM web site.
You also may find useful ethical codes and guidelines from related fields:
National Council on Public History Ethics Guidelines
Society for American Archaeology Principles of Archaeological Ethics
The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions Codes of Ethics Online provides access to more that 800 ethics codes from a wide range of professional organizations.
You should also practice oral presentation. Develop some strategies for focused, snappy presentations: like a verbal version of bulleted lists on a PowerPoint presentation. Work on the capability to use the allotted time effectively. You don't want to hear the buzzer when you are in the middle of a sentence; on the other hand, you don't want to finish with two full minutes remaining that you could use to state your case. So, you need to practice enough to get a feel for what two minutes are and what five minutes are.
Develop good posture; you will be seated at a table, so sit up straight. Project your voice outward; look at the audience as much as you can even if you have to consult notes. There will be a microphone, so practice using one. (However, also be prepared to speak effectively with or without a microphone; this will serve you well in the future!) Practice extemporaneous, but substantive, speaking so that you can pause without using fillers like "um" or "I guess." Breath instead. Don't be afraid to pause and take a quiet breath.
Think about developing a template for the entire presentation, something along the lines of:
Practice for your classmates and friends, if possible, and ask for feedback. If it's too scary, use a tape recorder or camcorder. It can be difficult to listen to or see yourself on a recording, but you rapidly will learn what your good (and bad) speaking habits are.
You will receive several ethical scenarios about three weeks before each Ethics Bowl. The final scenarios to be debated in the Ethics Bowl will be chosen from those cases by the organizers only just before the event. The judges don't know which scenarios will be used any sooner than you do (so they can't sit around and develop malevolently complex questions for you).
If you look over the scenarios, you will see that many tend to fall into basic categories surrounding the materials you have just finished studying. Using your readings, you can develop some general points to make for any scenario..
As you prepare, consider the position of the moderator who will ask the very first question in each round. The moderator's goal is to open up discussion as widely as possible, so she or he will ask something like "What ethical issues does John Doe have to consider in making his decision?" or "What do you advise Mary Smith to do in this case?"
For each scenario, consider what outside information you want to bring in to the discussion. Various codes of ethics are obvious, like those listed above. One warning the codes should not be cited as if they were legal codes (e.g. "In paragraph 3, section II, of the RPA code . . ."). Rather, the codes are for the most part guidelines that are meant to invoke thoughtful action and not merely be prescriptions for ethical behavior. Beyond codes of ethics, you may wish to mention debate or publications that are relevant to the scenario. If you do reference outside information, be sure to provide a brief but appropriate citation (something like, " . . . as proposed by Z in her publication the return of art stolen by the Nazis in WWII . . .").
Always consider the broad issue of stakeholders. There are likely to be multiple, often competing, stakeholders in each scenario. You may wish to give preference to the interests of certain stakeholders over others; that's fine, but be prepared to explain and justify that choice. Remember: life is full of hard choices, and museum practioners have to make some. It is acceptable to acknowledge competing interests, even when you ultimately privilege one set over another. In fact, your argument will be more realistic and compelling if you explicitly acknowledge the multiple stakeholders than if you suggest that there is one simple answer.
Remember, ethical dilemmas are just that: dilemmas. If they were easy to answer, we wouldn't need codes and debates and Ethics Bowls. You can expect that an appropriate solution to some scenarios will be unsatisfactory to some parties and/or will be imperfect. Acknowledge that honestly in your response, but clarify your decisions and choices. Ethics, after all, is about the reasons we have to guide the choices we make.
Think about how you can use your response to turn from the specific scenario to more general issues that museums grapple with. For example: can you make an opportunity in your response to consider differences between some of the existing codes of museum ethics or gaps in the codes that should be considered in the future? Or, try to consider in your response the future implications of different choices, or the more general ones for museums beyond the specific case. Or, consider future steps that an museum practitioner could take once a specific scenario is resolved. In other words: what's the bigger picture?
Consider history, but don't get trapped by it. Some scenarios turn on events that occurred 30 or more years ago. Should we hold museum practitioners of that period to standards of behavior that we have struggled to develop over the past 10 years? If not, what are our responsibilities in the present? It may be moot whether we agree or disagree with the actions of someone years ago. What we have to grapple with is what we should do now.
Finally, remember that the Ethics Bowl is intended to be enjoyable and educational. No one is out to "get you." In fact, everyone involved—the organizers, moderators, and judges—will want to see you succeed! And simply by preparing, showing up, and earnestly sharing your thoughts, you'll find a measure of success. So relax—and have fun too.
Structure | Rules & Procedures | Judges Guidelines | Preparation | Sample Cases | Scoring Sheets
Home | 503 Syllabus | 403 Syllabus | Museum Bowl | Museum Visits | Take Home | Videos
Conferences | Organizations | Indy Museums | Jobs
Credits:
Materials for these Ethics Bowl pages have been adapted from several Ethics Bowl web sites. These include:
Association of
Professional and Practical Ethics
Center for
Applied and Professional Ethics
The Society for American Archaeology Ethics Bowl