Museums: The Future of Diaspora Engagement
2023 CONFERENCE | CONGRESS
September 20 – September 23, 2023 | Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
​Printable schedule: click here​
Venue sites:
Matej Bel University and Museum of the Slovak National Uprising (featured photo)
Photo credit: Museum of the Slovak National Uprising
Overview
The Idaho Museum of International Diaspora’s (IMID) Global Leadership Council (GLC) serves as a catalyst to expand the reach and impact of the IMID’s mission and vision across the globe, which is to influence positive community transformation by highlighting the lives of diaspora and cultural groups from around the world, and to inspire an international movement of museums and institutions dedicated to diaspora and cultures.
The GLC leads the international efforts to build a global network of cross-sector leaders, educators and academics, policymakers, and practitioners to elevate the relevancy of diasporas and cultures in museums, educational and cultural institutions, corporations, and governments. This responsibility resulted in the launch of the IMID's signature global conference (congress style conference) in which this year's theme - Museums: The Future of Diaspora Engagement - will be held in beautiful Banská Bystrica, a town in Central Slovakia, and co-hosted by City of Banská Bystrica and our Central Europe legacy partner - Matej Bel University (MBU) and MBU Faculty of Arts. Join us by registering today to learn more about working with members of diaspora or refugee communities in different contexts (educational, cultural, etc.).
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Disclosure: This conference is an integral part of KEGA Project no. 016UMB-4/202: Global Skills Implementation in Foreign Language Teaching at Secondary Schools as a Precondition to Pupils´ Key Competencies´ Development and Professional Identity Enhancement of Future Teachers in the 21st Century. The project was approved in 2021 by the Cultural and Educational Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.
Aims
1. Engage participants to learn how museums can play a critical role in shaping and showcasing the cultures of diasporas.
2. Learn from cross-sector leaders and practitioners: Invite dialogue about the newly created diasporas in the global context.
3. Discover how we are connected: Understand diaspora from different perspectives (sociological, psychological, political, intercultural, educational, etc.) taking into consideration the past–present–future of diasporas.
4. Explore opportunities and partnerships to impact positive changes.
Audience
1. Educators / academic professionals (future teachers, future translators and interpreters)
2. Museum professionals, leaders across cultural and diaspora institutions
3. Government sector leaders
4. Organizations across industry sectors working with refugees and immigrants
Schedule
This multiday (September 20 - 23) conference/congress takes a plenary approach as opposed to offering concurrent sessions. The concurrent sessions are accessible in Day 3 (September 22). A printable schedule can be accessed here. Participants will simply register by clicking here, which takes you to our conference Registration and Rates site. Once registered, participants will have access to attend all sessions and workshops. The design of the conference over the 4-day span will engage participants in immersive learning starting with day 1 (September 20) as the foundational grounding day and ending with day 4 (September 23) to reflect on the learning journey and an invitation of partners near and far to inspire community transformation.
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A VIP Partnership Dinner is in development for the evening of September 20 (Wednesday). Please see below for highlights of the conference schedule.
Day 1 (Sept. 20): Grounding on the foundations of museums, cultural identity and diaspora.
Day 2 (Sept. 21): Experiential learning opportunity including: (1) guided cultural tour in various parts of Banská Bystrica, and (2) diaspora museum tour as an immersive learning experience.
Day 3 (Sept. 22): Engage participants in global skills training and immersive learning workshops.
Day 4 (Sept. 23): Wrap-up by way of facilitating discussion with participants on the application of the skills and knowledge in their respective fields.
VIP Partnership Dinner
Registration link forthcoming.
Join us for a night of networking, cultural entertainment, and partnership opportunities!
Delight and excite your evening at this special VIP Partnership Dinner (date forthcoming). At the end of the evening's program, hosted by Idaho Museum of International Diaspora's Global Leadership Council, our goal is to explain the world around us and invite partners to join our movement.
Speakers
The conference speakers represent at least four geographical regions; however, several represent different diaspora groups who now live in their resettled host countries. The conference's range of speakers come from various industry sectors and personal and professional backgrounds. To learn more about who our speakers are and where they come from, access our conference Moderators & Speakers page.
Venues
All of the conference sessions and workshops will be held in three main venues below in Banská Bystrica. Online participants will receive a Zoom link within 48 hours from the start of the conference (Sept. 20).
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Museum of the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) (Slovak: Múzeum Slovenského národného povstania)
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Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations (FPS-IR), Matej Bel University (Slovak: Univerzita Mateja Bela)
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Faculty of Arts, Matej Bel University (Slovak: Univerzita Mateja Bela)
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VIP Partnership Dinner will be held at Hotel Dixon
Partners
This global conference / congress - Museums: The Future of Diaspora Engagement - is organized by the Idaho Museum of International Diaspora's Global Leadership Council and co-hosted by: Idaho Museum of International Diaspora, Matej Bel University (MBU), City of Banská Bystrica, and MBU Faculty of Arts.
We are excited to have the support and partnership from the many organizations below across various parts of the globe!
