Westphal College of Media Arts & Design

Dr. Laura-Edythe Coleman is an American researcher and culture leader who bridges the fields of museum studies and information science to further our understanding of cultural institutions in society. She earned her Ph.D. in Information Science with a focus on Museum Informatics from Florida State University. Dr. Coleman is Assistant Professor and Director of the Arts Administration & Museum Leadership Graduate Online Program at Drexel University. She previously held posts as a lecturer for Museum Studies at Johns Hopkins University and Information Science at Florida State University. Her areas of research and teaching include museum studies, social justice and inclusion, political activism, cultural heritage informatics, research methods, knowledge management, information architecture, collections management, and digital curation. As a forward-thinking interdisciplinary researcher, she performs quantitative and qualitative studies and frequently forms research partnerships outside the museum and library fields. As a revolutionary, Dr. Coleman created a graduate program, the Responsible Cultural Leadership Certificate, for Drexel University. Dr. Coleman is a Fulbright Specialist in Library & Information Science. She is the Associate Editor of Research & Practice for Wiley’s Curator: The Museum Journal and the Editor of the Special Issue: Museums Response to War Crimes. Dr. Coleman is the author of the published book, Understanding and Implementing Inclusion in Museums and the under-contract book Curatorial Voice. As an internationally recognized museum expert, Dr. Coleman frequently presents and speaks at conferences, symposiums, and panels

Ph.D, Information Science, Florida State University
MS, Library Information, Florida State University
Graduate Certificate, Information Architecture, Florida State University
BFA, Music Performance, University of Florida

Authored Books

Coleman, L.-E. (Under Contract). Curatorial Voice. Taylor & Francis.

Coleman, L.-E. (2018). Understanding & Implementing Inclusion in Museums. Rowman & Littlefield

Invited Book Chapters

Coleman, L.-E. & McLaughlin, H. (Forthcoming 2024) Museum Studies for a Post-Pandemic World. The Next Evolution of Museum Studies: Museum Master Classes in Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Coleman, L.-E. & McLaughlin, H. (2021). 20th Century Museums, In Libraries, Archives, Museums: Western Cultural Heritage Institutions Through the Ages. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Invited Journal Articles

Coleman, L.-E., Fraser, J., & Doering, Z. D. (2022). Save the Ukrainian People First: They Carry their Culture in their Hearts. Curator: The Museum Journal, 65(S1), 5–14.

Coleman, L.-E. (2022). Official response to the Russian war crimes in Ukraine. Curator: The Museum Journal, 65(S1), 15–16.

Fraser, J., Coleman, L.-E., & Bennett, B. (2020). Neutrality is Not an Option, Museums Don’t Need Left‐over Statues. Curator: The Museum Journal, 63(3), 295–298.

Coleman, L.-E. (2020). The Necessity of Research Practice. Curator: The Museum Journal, 63(1), 9–13.

Invited Journal Editor – Special Issue 

Coleman, L.-E. (Ed.). (2022). Museums Response to War Crimes. Curator: The Museum Journal, 65(S1), 1–4.

Refereed Book Chapters

Coleman, L.-E. & Moore, P. (2019). From the ground up: Grassroots social justice activism in American Museums, In Museums and Activism. New York, New York: Routledge.

Coleman, L.-E. (2016). Social Inclusion and the Gatekeeping Mechanisms of Curatorial Voice: Are Museums Ready to be Agents of Social Justice? In Progressive Community Action: Critical Theory and Social Justice in Library and Information Science. Duluth, Minnesota: Library Juice Press.

Coleman, L.-E. (2015). Perspectives on Museum Informatics: Curatorial Voice re-imagined through Gatekeeper theory; Museum as Place re-envisioned through Nonaka’s SECI ba. In Annual Review of Cultural Heritage Informatics 2014 (Vol. 2). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.

Refereed Journal Articles

Coleman, L.-E. (Under Review). Book Review: The Role of Libraries, Archives, and Museums in Achieving Civic Engagement and Social Justice in Smart Cities. Curator: The Museum Journal.

Coleman, L.-E. (2016). The Socially Inclusive Museum: A Typology Re-imagined. The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum.

Refereed Conference Proceedings

Coleman, L.-E., Hoffman, L., & McLaughlin, H. (2021) Virtual Experiences: Reinventing Museum Studies for the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic World. Virtual Dialogue: Museum Academics and Professionals on Challenges in the Post-COVID World. Online: 2021 Museum Studies International Symposium.

Coleman, L.-E. & McLaughlin, H. (2021). Reinventing Museum Studies for the Pandemic and Post- Pandemic World. Prepared for Lisbon, Portugal: The 14th International Inclusive Museum Conference. Deferred to Rethinking the Museum Philadelphia: PA The 15th International Inclusive Museum Conference (2022).

Coleman, L.-E., DeGroot, S., Phalen, S., & Lewis, Z. (2020, September 5). Internships past, present and future: Dismantling systems of power from the ground up. Death To Museums. Death to Museums.

Coleman, L.-E. (2018) Bringing Inclusion to American Museums: A Blueprint for Change. Presented in Inclusion as Shared Vision: Museum and Sharing Heritage. Grenada, Spain: The Inclusive Museum Conference.

Coleman, L.-E. & Phillips, A. (2017) Understanding Empathy in the Profession. Presented in Diaspora, Integration and Museums. Manchester, UK: The Inclusive Museum Conference.

Coleman, L.-E. (2016). The Socially Inclusive Museum: Perspectives From American Museum Researchers and Professionals. Presented in The Museum in the Global Contemporary: short films. Leicester, UK.: Debating the Museum of Now Conference at the University of Leicester.

Coleman, L.-E., Gorman, J., Moore, P., Paquet-Kinsley, R., & Taylor, C. (2016). Identity Construction, Community, and the Inclusive Museum. Presented in Power, Influence, and Responsibility. Washington, D.C.: AAM.

Coleman, L.-E., & Moore, P. (2016). A Crash Course in Inclusion for the Museum Practitioner. Presented in Urbanism, Inclusion, and Cultural Freedoms. Cincinnati: OH.: The Inclusive Museum Conference.

Coleman, L.-E. (2015). The Socially Inclusive Museum: Measuring Our Social Impact. Presented in The Social Value of Museums: Inspiring Change. Atlanta, Georgia: AAM.

Urban, R., Coleman, L.-E., & Marty, P. (2014). Libraries, Archives, and Museums: Connecting Educational Communities and Cultures. Presented in Connecting Collections, Cultures, and Communities. Seattle, Washington: ASIS&T.

Invited Interviews

Velie, E. (2022, November 4). Museum Org Demanded Loyalty; Scholars Resigned. Hyperallergic. http://hyperallergic.com/775411/museum-org-demanded-loyalty-scholars-resigned/

Benshoff, L. (Director). (2022, October 8). Strike by Philadelphia Museum of Art workers shows woes of “prestige” jobs. In Morning Edition. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/10/07/1127400793/what-a-strike-at-a-philadelphia-museum-reveals-about-unionizing-cultural-institu

AMA with Museologists. (2021, September 5.) Musing with the Museologists Podcast. Hit Hard by the Pandemic, Museum Workers Redouble Union Efforts. (2021, July 13). https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/hit-hard-by-the-pandemic-museum-workers-redouble-union-efforts

Dr. Coleman’s current research areas:

Revolutionaries and Rioters in the 21^st Museum

A study of the individuals who have shaped the revolutionary changes in the museum field over the past 20 years

Museums and Identity

Studies on the relationships between museums and national identity. Focused on the rapid growth of identity narratives and international museums that capture and convey identity narratives.