Features
‘A Mile in my Shoes’ director Clare Patey (left) and assistant Patty Ross.
Walking in the shoes of others Anna Stadlman reports on a visit to the Empathy Museum in London It was a crisp September day as I walked briskly along the southern embankment of the river Thames in London, headed towards an exhibition organized by the Empathy Museum entitled ‘Walk A Mile In My Shoes’. I first heard of the Empathy Museum during the summer vacation when I had been thinking of ways to encourage my students’ eagerness to respond to the needs of others, while avoiding the danger of falling into the ‘us and them’ mentality. I had just re-read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, Harper Lee’s classic novel set in Alabama during the 1950’s, and the words of Atticus Finch to his daughter Scout: ‘You never really know someone unless you jump into their skin and walk around in it’ leapt from the page. These words, coupled with the notion of a museum dedicated to empathy, prompted me to find out more about the exhibition. The Empathy Museum is a project conceived by Roman Krznaric, philosopher and international expert on empathy. He strongly believes that empathy is a powerful tool to help develop compassion for others and implement social change, goals which resonate with international educators. ‘To understand others’, says Krznaric, ‘we need to walk in Winter
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their shoes – literally’. In his book, ‘Empathy: Why it Matters and How to Get it’ Krznaric (2014) suggests that every city should have an Empathy Museum that is completely interactive, not typical of traditional museums. ‘The point is to create an explosion of empathy in everyday life.’ he explains. ‘We’re creating an experiential and conversational space … taking empathy into everyday relations and culture.’ Examples of the exhibits included in an Empathy Museum include a room set up like a factory for making mobile phones, where workers work long hours putting minute mechanisms together. The visitor sits and experiences at first hand how it would feel being in a sweatshop doing that job. An additional section would feature a darkened room set up like a café where the visitor could get a sense of being blind, while ordering, eating and drinking in a restaurant. The exhibition I was on my way to see in London, ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes’, is the first such exhibit and is now travelling the world. As I approached I saw in the near distance a large shoebox–shaped construction with the words ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes’ printed on the side in large black letters. I entered and was warmly welcomed by Clare Patey, the Museum’s
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