Professor Lynne Teather was interviewed June 13, 2007, by CBC Radio Ottawa's afternoon program about the recent response of World War II Veterans to a display at the Canadian War Museum. The radio program reported on the Senate subcommittee on veteran affairs' examination of the display and its subsequent findings, as well as the responses of the Canadian Museum of Civilization's Director, Victor Rabinovich, and the Canadian War Museum's Director, Joe Geurts.

Prof. Teather of FIS's Museum Studies Masters Program spoke to the controversy in terms of contemporary museology and reflections on museum practice, referring to the study she is doing with Professor Roger Simon of OISE/UT. Simon and Teather, along with several University of Toronto graduate students, have been investigating the question of how museums display "difficult" history, the product of which is an exhibition proposal, "The Terrible Gift: Difficult Memories for the 21st Century." The proposal is currently under consideration by the Musée de la Civilization, Quebec City and several institutions abroad.

Teather reports, "This is fundamentally the question of what museums are in a democratic society, and consequently what a war museum should be in Canada." The discussion is indicative of a wider museum conversation taking place from South Africa to Argentina, but it has a particular resonance in Canada and the way we depict the history of war and nation.

For more information, see the CBC's article on the museum display, at http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2007/06/13/museum-070613.html