One Smithsonian

Addressing complicated issues and global problems such as zoonotic diseases, climate change, and the rapid loss of natural resources resulting from human activities and population pressures requires work that spans disciplines and organizational boundaries. The Smithsonian’s potential to tackle complex challenges, as well as to innovate in design, technology, and other pursuits, is greatest when our museums, galleries, Zoo, research centers, education centers, and mission-support offices work together as One Smithsonian.

This section of the Dashboard highlights forward-thinking, interdisciplinary, and cross-Smithsonian activities that tackle pressing issues and chart new paths that the Smithsonian is particularly well suited to address due to its unique combination of science, history, art, and culture experts and global partnerships. Learn more at Torch, Smithsonian Global, Smithsonian Insider, and Smithsonian.com. 

Women in Science Symposium

Women in Science Symposium

The virtual symposium American Women of Science: Recovering History, Defining the Future, sponsored by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, was held on October 20-22 and 27-29, 2020. The focus of the symposium was on recovering less-known histories of women in science, as well as looking at the present and future of women in scientific fields. Highlights included keynotes from former Smithsonian Undersecretary for Science Dr. Eva Pell and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Acting Director Dr. Oris Sanjur, and a conversation with Dr. Katrina Pagenkopp Lohan of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center led by Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch.

Initiative on Race in America

Initiative on Race in America

Bank of America has committed $25 million to launch the Smithsonian’s Race, Community, and Our Shared Future initiative, which will explore how Americans understand, experience, and confront race and its impact on their communities and nation. The initiative will draw on resources from across the Smithsonian to examine the historical context of the challenges facing the nation today. Contributing units include the National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Latino Center, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, National Museum of American History, and other Smithsonian museums and centers.

2020 Artist Research Fellows

2020 Artist Research Fellows

In September, the Smithsonian selected 16 visual artists from an international pool of candidates to be 2020 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellows. These artists will spend one to two months in residence at the Smithsonian, drawing on its collections and scholarship to support the creation of innovative art. Winners will be hosted by all Smithsonian art museums, as well as the Archives of American Art, National Air and Space Museum, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, National Anthropological Archive, and National Museums of American History, Natural History, and the American Indian.

Smithsonian Organization and Audience Research/OCIO