In the final episode of People. Change. Museums., we take ‘empathy’ as our keyword. Last century psychologists determined that there are three variations of empathy: ‘somatic empathy’ – the physical reaction to someone else’s pain and suffering; ‘cognitive empathy – the capacity to understand another, to put yourself in their place; and ‘affective empathy’ – the ability to respond with an appropriate emotion to another’s mental state. Arguably: all of these variations of empathy are required within the museum setting, especially in a time of intersecting global crisis.

The voices that you will hear from in this episode - some new, some familiar - all reflect on the role of empathy in the work that they do and push at the boundaries of how we might understand it within museums. In considering this topic, Sophie is joined by Dr Lauren Vargas - Research Associate on 'One by One' and Digital Placemaker-Community Strategist (EU), Adrienne Lalli Hills - Associate Director at Studio School at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Centre (US), Corey Timpson - Museum Design and Accessibility Expert and formally Vice President, Exhibitions, Research, and Design at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CA), Kati Price - Head of Digital Media at the V&A, Dafydd James - Head of Digital and Strategic Projects Lead, National Museum Wales, Rob Cawston - Head of Digital Media at National Museums Scotland and John Stack - Digital Director at the Science Museum Group (UK).

This penultimate episode of People. Change. Museums. presents the term 'Cultural Identity' as its keyword. The notion of belonging has taken on a new set of meanings during the time of pandemic, with those identified as belonging to certain ethnically diverse cultural communities – and typically those characterised as experiencing higher rates of poverty, unemployment and poor health – being disproportionately impacted by the crisis.

In this episode, Sophie explores the evolving concept of 'cultural identity' by dissecting the relationship between technology, museums and power in 2020 and 2021. To do so, she is joined by kYmberly Keeton - Chief Library Curator, ART | library deco (US), Shereen Hunte - Learning Officer at the Jewish Museum London (UK) and Claudia Zapata, Curatorial Assistant of Latinx Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (US).

The term 'agency' has long been considered a term of empowerment, linked to the ability to transgress, to be insurrectionary, political and subversive. But how has the meaning of the term shifted in 2020? This episode takes 'agency' as its keyword and considers how, in museums and other cultural spaces at least, it has come to mean the ability to have a voice as much as to act; to be able to speak up and in speaking up to bring others to the table too.

In order to further explore the meaning of 'agency' in 2020, Sophie is joined in this episode by Kelly Doyle, Open Knowledge Coordinator at The Smithsonian Institution (US), Jack Yates, Communications Officer at the Royal Armouries (UK) and Kathleen Lawther, freelance Curator based in Brighton (UK). We also hear from four individuals leading digital in national museums in the UK - Kati Price, Head of Digital Media at the V&A, Rob Cawston, Head of Digital Media at National Museums Scotland, John Stack, Digital Director at the Science Museum Group and Dafydd James, Head of Digital and Strategic Projects Lead, National Museum Wales. Kati, Rob, John and Dafydd discuss what this year has done for digital technology and the role it is continuing to play in keeping museums relevant.