Museum Forecast 2025: The Words We Use

This is the sixth year of our forecasts for the museum field! An incredible amount of change has occurred in the sector which brings with it new challenges and opportunities. As the application of technology and ethics to the museum field continue to evolve, the more I wonder what the future of museums will look like.

Additionally, this year was an election year in the United States and the changing political leadership brings with it a degree of uncertainty—especially for the history field which has become a hot setting for political discourse.

Museum Forecast 2025

As I look to 2025, the themes I see are tangled together. Instead of three separate themes, this year breaks precedence with making one large forecast with an outline of a few specific aspects to watch in the year ahead.

My Forecast: Words will Carry Increased Consequences

My forecast is that this year (and likely years plural) will see cultural institutions in the United States and abroad grapple with intensified and politically-motivated examination. Museum administration, programs, catalog content, and exhibits will be impacted at an unprecedented level, and the field as a whole will find itself scrambling to find equilibrium. More specifically, the words we use as we conduct museum business will increasingly fall under intense scrutiny by politicians and politically-engaged citizens.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—No Longer?

At present, much of the focus is on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs at educational institutions. In the US, the majority of states fall into two categories: states with bills introduced or with bills signed into law. Both proposed and passed bills range in scope from restricting DEI in hiring or student admission decisions, banning staff from attending DEI trainings, and barring money spent on DEI programming.

Many of the bills include the prohibition of promoting certain viewpoints, specifically calling out words and phrases that are seen to relate to DEI. Then there is the ban on DEI statements which demonstrates the prohibition of words that are seen to embody—what are for some—controversial values. In fact, several of the proposed and adopted bills refer to these values as divisive concepts.

Resources: For an excellent overview of these proposed and passed bills, Jessica Bryant and Chloe Appleby’s “These States’ Anti-DEI Legislation May Impact Higher Education,” published by Best Colleges, (May 22, 2024), is a great resource.

Consequences: While still playing out, consequences may be quite severe. State employees are at risk of losing their jobs and incurring potential charges for breaking the law if they’re seen to be engaging in prohibited DEI-esque activities. Museums who receive state funding annually or via grants are at risk for funding loss.

More recently, threats to nonprofit status have also been raised as potential consequences, which would likely lead to closure unless the nonprofit is unusually well resourced. In short, the consequences can be severe.

Forecast: DEI Programs will Shutter or Evolve

DEI programs will be forced to close or undertake an evolution. The extent of change will depend on the state; however, the threat of consequences from multiple fronts may motivate some DEI programs to proactively adapt.

Anticipatory Censorship in Museum Exhibits

Anticipatory censorship is when we make the decision to censor our words in an effort to avoid negative consequences we suspect would occur. For museum exhibits, anticipatory censorship is the removal of content, facts or historical evidence that could provoke a negative reaction.

As an example, on October 29, 2024, the Wall Street Journal published an exclusive, “America’s Top Archivist Puts a Rosy Spin on U.S. History—Pruning the Thorny Parts,” by Andrew Restuccia and Rebecca Ballhaus. The article revealed current US Archivist Colleen Shogan’s decisions to remove or replace numerous elements of an opening exhibit that are otherwise widely agreed upon as landmark events in US history.

National Archives staffers characterized her actions as censorship. Some have speculated that Shogan’s decisions may have been motivated by concern regarding future funding of the National Archives and Records Administration and suggest her actions are censorship in anticipation of a future oppression. In quotes provided by National Archives staffers, Shogan is said to have directed the team that the exhibit should not include anything too negative or controversial. In a statement provided by the agency on Shogan’s behalf, it states, “Leading a nonpartisan agency during an era of political polarization is not for the faint of heart.”

Consequences: In this example, the consequence Shogan (allegedly) is attempting to avoid is a cut to funding. The consequences in the immediate aftermath of the article are field-wide notoriety, and significant concern regarding the precedent of anticipatory censorship Shogan sets at a national-level.

As museum professionals, we know that presenting sanitized or incomplete history is a disservice to everyone; it prevents engagement in difficult but important reflection and discussion and removes the ability for us to learn from past mistakes. Museums, regardless of how they navigate an increasingly precarious balance of historical accuracy to avert an audience’s negative reactions, will likely sustain an impact to their reputation. Additionally, this may also affect a museum’s perceived trustworthiness by the community.

Forecast: Museums Will Increasingly Engage in Self-Censorship

Museums will increasingly struggle internally to create exhibits, catalogs, and other content that meets field-wide best practices—while museum administration will focus on avoiding the provocation of negative reactions. Overall, there will be an increase in self-censorship while museums attempt to find equilibrium.

Speaking of impossible balances, we’ve arrived at the final element in this forecast.

Museums and the Concept of Pluralism and Bridge Words

On Thursday, December 5, in Chicago, Illinois, former president Barack Obama gave a lecture at his foundation’s Democracy Forum, which gathers experts, leaders, and young people to explore ways to safeguard democracy through community action. In the wake of the US election this past November, “pluralism” has made its way into societal conversation. Instead of my attempt to define it, I’ll let former President Barack Obama explain:

President Obama’s remarks are available via Obama.org:

Pluralism is not about holding hands and singing “Kumbaya.” It is not about abandoning your convictions and folding when things get tough. It is about recognizing that in a democracy, power comes from forging alliances, and building coalitions, and making room in those coalitions not only for the woke but also for the waking.

Obama goes on to explain that there are undeniable risks involved and that the work is not easy.

Now, there are risks involved in engaging with groups you disagree with, particularly if there’s a power imbalance involved. There is a risk when you begin to negotiate comprises that you’ll give away too much, that you’ll whittle away your issues to the point where it’s hard to claim that you’re making progress. And building bridges may require you to deal with people who not only disagree with you, but do not respect you.

Obama’s use of the building bridges metaphor is a natural one for pursuing progress with groups of ideologically-opposed people. And it leads in nicely to a session provided at the 2024 Future of Museums Summit, held by the American Alliance of Museums. The session was titled, “Language and Legislation: Telling the Truth in 2024.” 

During the panel Sarah Jenks (Founder & Principal, Every Museum a Civic Museum) introduced the concept of “bridgey” words. According to Jenks, they define bridgey as a word that falls into the net positive and isn’t considered a polarizing word. In their research the following words were bridgey-strong: American, Civic Engagement, Advocacy, and Democracy. Low-strength examples were: Social Justice, Racial, Equity, Diversity, Patriotism, and Bipartisan. In this session, the emphasis was on the literal words we use.

Consequence: Ultimately the consequences will depend on the level of compromise struck. By its very nature, a compromise is where both parties are perceived to have both gained and lost equally. Or, as my grandma would say, “A compromise means nobody’s happy.”

A compromise in this work—in engaging with those whose values may be counter to our own, in choosing different words that may be seen to obfuscate—could result in the consequence that incremental progress may be made and there may also be harm done. It’s an unenviable position.

Forecast: Pluralism/Bridgey Words Concepts will Increasingly Appear

Pluralism and similar concepts like bridgey words will increasingly appear in the field. The 2024 Future of Museums Summit, held by the American Alliance of Museums solidified this with dedicating a track to “Culture Wars”, and I suspect will further invest in the topic at the 2025 annual conference with the theme of “Museums & Trust”. This year will be a struggle as museum staff learn about a political philosophy and its application to our work, but at least there will be significant focus on it by professional organizations.

A Look Back at Past Museum Forecasts

This wraps our forecast for museums in 2025, marking the sixth in our series of annual forecasts. To view past forecasts, please see below:

Museum Forecast 2024

• Digital Programs will Sink or Swim in the Fight for Adequate Resources
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) as Empathy Generators in Museums
• Pervasive Burnout Remains Unaddressed in Any Meaningful Way

Museum Forecast 2023

• The Illegalization of Unpaid Internships
• Repatriation is No Longer Optional
• The evolution of the Collection Development policy

Museum Forecast 2022:

• No More Half-Measures When It Comes to Offering Accessibility
• The Continued and Accelerated Elimination of Museum “Entry-Level” Jobs
• A Digital Boom

Museum Forecast 2021:

• Museums Will Close
• Collections Accessioning and Deaccessioning
• Digital Collections are a Higher Priority

Museum Forecast 2020:

• DEAI embedded into museums and driving programmatic change
• Grant Funding, modest budgets, funding threatened, and incredibly competitive
• Ethical Labor Practices requiring salary transparency, institutions lack financial health