Museoception is a space created by Robin Nelson for critical reflection on museums and cultural policy in what is now known as Canada.
Robin Nelson (PhD, MMSt, they/them) is researcher interested in subnational community museum policy, the role of service organizations, and heritage commemoration policy.
Past research projects have considered the influence of subnational policies on community museum development in New Brunswick and Ontario. Most recently, they focused on community museum policy in Yukon with the Dawson City Museum Project. Robin is also affiliated with the Cultural Policy Research Network and a board member of the journal Culture and Local Governance.
Recent works:
Nelson, Robin. (2024). “Funding through Policy Attachment: An Examination of Funding for the Dawson City Museum,” in Financial Management in Museums: Theory, Practice and Context edited by Yuha Jung, Rachel Shane, and Joleesa Renee Wells. Routledge.
Luka, Mary Elizabeth, Robin Nelson, Shawn Newman and Robin Sokoloski. (2023). How We Work With/in Culture Now: Reimagining Impact Assessment and Governance. Culture and Local Governance. 8(1): ii-vii.
Gunter, Christopher and Robin Nelson. (2022). “Producing the Past: The Changing Protagonists of Canadian Heritage.” The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society.
Nelson, Robin. (2021). “Quality Over Quantity: The role of the Ontario Museum Association in Community Museum Governance.” In Canadian Cultural Policy in Transition, Edited by Devin Beauregard and Jonathan Paquette. Routledge.
Nelson, Robin. (2021). “Turning the Light on: The Ontario Historical Society and Museum Governance.” Ontario History 113(1), 41-53.
Nelson, Robin. (2021). Community Museum Governance: The (Re)Definition of Sectoral Representation and Policy Instruments in Ontario (Doctoral Thesis, University of Ottawa).
Additional Contributors
Research Assistants
Dawson City Museum Project
Madison Francoeur (she/her) was a research assistant for the Dawson City Museum Project. She is a Bachelor of Fine Arts student at MacEwan University, majoring in arts and cultural management. She resides in Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton, Alberta. She has a passion for cultural preservation through community engagement. She has recently completed a field placement at Fort Edmonton Park and an independent study on Métis beadwork.
Katherine Ahlf (she/her) was a research assistant for the Dawson City Museum Project and currently lives on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton, Alberta. She is entering her final year of study at the University of Alberta, where she will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Music and minoring in Arts & Cultural Management. She is passionate about working to help rural communities find sustainable and inclusive solutions for arts and cultural access and preservation.
Christine Leroux (she/her) was the lead research assistant for the Dawson City Museum project. She is also the Associate Producer at Western Canada Theatre on the traditional territory of Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc. She is a current student in the Arts and Cultural Management Program at MacEwan University, and has a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Theatre Arts from Thompson Rivers University.
Melody Lovlin (she/her) was a research assistant for the Dawson City Museum project and a current student in the Bachelor of Arts program at the University of Alberta, located on Treaty Six territory. Majoring in Media Studies and minoring in Arts and Cultural Management, she has an interest in research that centers on how media— in all its various forms— contributes to the level of accessibility of museum and gallery spaces.
Student Projects
A Walk Through Indigenous Memory
Nicole Da Costa, (she/her), is an anthropologist and recent graduate from MacEwan University. Her research focuses on the ways in which anthropological research and museum practices can be decolonized through community-based partnerships that will inspire action for social change.
As a first-generation settler to Canada, born and raised in Amiskwaciwaskahikan, Treaty 6, Nicole is passionate about working with Indigenous communities to help facilitate repatriation and reconciliation. In the past she has collaborated with groups such as the Edmonton Indigenous seniors’ centre, the Macewan Indigenous Student’s Club, and the autonomous Sinixt Nation in Canada.
Museoception 