Call for Peer Reviewers – Museological Review, Issue 27

Museological Review, Issue 27 – What if we could trust the ground under our feet? Museums as spaces of rootedness and response-ability

Museological Review (MR) is an online peer-reviewed journal, published annually by the community of PhD students of the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester.

Museological Review’s theme for its 27th issue is “What if we could trust the ground under our feet? Museums as spaces for rootedness and response-ability”. The 27th issue of Museological Review looks at museums as spaces of rootedness and response-ability. It wishes to place museums (and other institutions, collectives, and organisations doing museum-like work with archives, communities and mediation of knowledges) at the centre of the question of livability in times of capitalist ruins. As many museums today are once again attending to their situated contexts and histories; we believe there is an argument to be made regarding the contemporary significance of roots and rootedness in museum practice. Thinking of roots is a reminder that no one lives everywhere and everyone lives somewhere; of the invisible rhizomatic structures that allow for communication and maintenance; of roots as forms of situated knowledges, vital to understanding and becoming-with the realities of each place.

The journal has invited authors to reflect upon this theme and to question the values which underly our assumptions around what ‘roots’ and ‘rootedness’ are, and mean, in the context of museums and wider societal issues. The upcoming issue will consider how the museum sector is responding to these issues, navigating new ways to engage with audiences.

We are now inviting Museum Studies scholars to engage with us as peer reviewers for Issue 27.

We are seeking scholars who received their PhD in Museum Studies or Cultural Heritage related topics, ideally within the last two years, or who have already submitted their thesis to serve as peer reviewers.

Peer reviewers contribute to the development of an article by using their expert knowledge of the specified research topic to give a constructive evaluation of the article. Both the author and the peer reviewer remain anonymous throughout the process, with contact mediated through one of MR’s editors.

Researchers from anywhere in the world with an interest in any of the following areas are strongly encouraged to apply:

– Museums engaging in place-making and grounded practices
– Institutional initiatives for power-sharing or collaboration
– Community-oriented initiatives in museums and as museums
– Decentralised praxis in museum studies
– Commons and commoning in museums and cultural production
– (In)sustainability of institutional models and formats
– Institutions and local ecosystems: social, political and economic networks
– Collective and collaborative archiving and exhibiting.

Articles are submitted in English, so excellent proficiency in this language is a mandatory requirement.

We consider this as an excellent opportunity for researchers wishing to develop their editing skills and to establish a collaboration with PhD students, new researchers, and practitioners across international institutions. Peer reviewers are essential team members in the successful publishing of the next issue of Museological Review and commitment is required.

Please note that this is on a voluntary basis.

To be considered as a peer reviewer, please send an expression of interest and a short biography (no more than 100 words) to Museologicalreview@leicester.ac.uk by Friday 5th April 2024. If you have already been a peer reviewer for the journal, there is no need to resend a short biography; please send an e-mail expressing interest if you would like to continue to be a peer reviewer this year.

Time frame: papers will be sent to peer-reviewers in mid-April 2024.

Deadline for peer reviewers: 17th May 2024.

The journal will be launched in Autumn 2024.