Productive Discomfort: Dialogue, Reproductive Choice and Social Justice Education at the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center

Museums in the past have been static institutions, exhibiting their collections as public displays. Today, the public has come to expect more from these institutions, seeing them as safe havens where conversations can begin. As reproductive rights have moved to the forefront of political and social debate, dialogue seems to be a step in the right direction to understanding opposing views on this issue. This article presents the process of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center in the creation of the "Who Chooses?" dialogue as a replicable model for discussions on reproductive rights. From the grant funding to the creation of informational brochures for dialogue participants and training of the facilitators, the Gage Center project has faced surprisingly few obstacles as the project has grown organically from the mission and history of the organization. This experience has strengthened the Gage Center's resolve to present dialogue on reproductive rights as a forum for social change.