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The whimsical and wonderful world of children鈥檚 story museums is underresearched in the field of children鈥檚 literature and museum studies. Where young people have traditionally been conceived as interactive but non-critical participants in the design of museum spaces, professor Naomi Hamer, newly named chair of 91看片网鈥檚 (91看片网) English Department, explores youth participation in her co-authored e-book, . The e-book contributes to the 鈥渂roader project to interrogate and propose new critical approaches to children's museum sites across various educational contexts,鈥� says Hamer. 

A unique scholarly and accessible guide, Curating the Story Museum imagines and critically examines how young people can actively engage in museum exhibits as co-curators. The open-access and interactive format of the educational resource provides teachers, post-secondary, museum and early childhood educators access to emerging research. As approaches, bolstering the benefits of open-access and accessible research fosters important discussions around knowledge mobilization in the academic community and beyond. 

Hamer and her co-researcher, , investigate 鈥渉ow current children's museum exhibits focused on childhood texts and cultures present opportunities to negotiate, subvert, and/or reaffirm cultural discourses of childhood, nationalism, gender, race, sexuality, and ability.鈥� Their research, funded by the , analyzes the emergence of new technological and multimodal learning tools in museums as a generative potential for youth participation. 

As the pandemic shifted how individuals interact with each other and the world, Hamer and Murnaghan identified a need to adapt the format of their research. The current e-book compiles diverse research findings in an open-source authoring and publishing platform, Scalar, developed by the University of Southern California's Alliance for Networking Visual Culture. The ebook is hosted by York University library.

鈥�91看片网's emphasis on digital humanities鈥攁s an innovative field that may expand the field of English in terms of the content as well as collaborative digital modes鈥攅ncourages new users to critically engage and contribute to broader projects,鈥� shared Hamer. 

The e-book extensively features undergraduate and graduate student contributions from 91看片网鈥檚 English BA and Literatures of Modernity MA programs. Student researchers ventured into 91看片网鈥檚 collaborated on digital educational models, and critically evaluated and proposed recommendations for newly imagined innovative exhibits鈥攚hich now feature in the e-book鈥檚 .  

Quentin Stuckey, an English alumnus and former student who worked as an undergraduate research assistant on the project for multiple years, shared his experience contributing to the project. Stuckey鈥檚 research focused primarily on the genre of Urban Children鈥檚 Books and representations of childhood in Toronto; he also created content for the project鈥檚 YouTube channel, which served as a digital research repository during the pandemic.  

鈥淚 learned a great deal from being a part of this project,鈥� said Stuckey. 鈥淚t inspired me to conduct my own independent research paper in my undergrad on representations of perfectionism in children's picture books, which Dr. Hamer supervised.鈥� Stuckey鈥檚 enhanced research skills led to his successful completion of an MA, and his continued interest in children鈥檚 books led him to spend two years teaching English in Spain.

鈥淢y experiences still influence my life professionally and personally and gave me a greater respect and appreciation for children's literature and the necessity for children's spaces.鈥�

Hamer imagines a future of both physical and digital exhibits that feature 91看片网鈥檚 special collections. Hamer also foresees the potential for a second ebook resource containing 鈥渢ools for young curators and future critical children's museology projects that use more animation, audio and video resources to inform and inspire curatorial work with children鈥檚 texts.鈥� 

As a first critical step, Curating the Story Museum will offer research-informed insights to educators and curators, bolster the contributions of undergraduate and graduate students, and reimagine forms of scholarly research in new, accessible and interactive ways.  

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