April 20, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Trien, 585-410-6359, strien@museumofplay.org
Strong National Museum of Play®
Announces Plans to Launch American Journal of Play
Strong National Museum of Play® in Rochester, New York, the only museum in the world devoted to the study of play as it illuminates American culture, today announced that early in 2008 it will begin publishing the American Journal of Play, a scholarly quarterly journal on the history, culture, and psychology of play that will include contributions from the most prominent national researchers and writers in the field. This new journal, along with plans to acquire an important historical archive of play research, further boosts Strong’s reputation as a major center for the scholarly
study of play.
Each issue of the American Journal of Play will feature articles in such disciplines as child development, education, psychology, sociology, history, communications, and museology and is aimed at a general audience of educators, psychologists, play therapists, sociologists, anthropologists, historians, museum professionals, and others interested in children and the importance of play.
Says G. Rollie Adams, president and CEO of Strong National Museum of Play® and Editor in Chief of the American Journal of Play, “The Journal will be an important voice about the importance of play, written in a clear, straightforward style suitable for a wide readership. It will increase national awareness and understanding of the critical role of play in learning and human development and the way in which play illuminates the cultural history of the United States.”
Commitments have already been received for forthcoming articles on a wide variety of topics, among them: the power of play and why it is essential to human development; why playgrounds aren’t what they used be and why that’s dangerous for learning; the healing power of play therapy; and the ancestral, evolutionary sources of human play, joy, and laughter. The American Journal of Play will also publish book reviews and, from time to time, reviews of other related media.
The Journal’s Editorial Advisory Board is comprised of illustrious scholars including (among fourteen others) David Elkind (author of The Hurried Child and the recently acclaimed book The Power of Play); Brian Sutton-Smith (the most prominent figure in play scholarship over the last four decades and recently named Scholar in Residence at Strong National Museum of Play®); Dorothy G. Singer and Jerome L. Singer (internationally recognized for their work in the field of child development and co-directors of the Yale University Family Television Research and Consultation Center); Allan Schore (a leading researcher in the field of neuropsychology who has made groundbreaking contributions in his field); and Vivian Paley (a noted child psychologist, early childhood education researcher, and author whose books include The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter and You Can’t Say You Can’t Play) .
American Journal of Play Editorial Advisory Board
Doris Bergen, Miami University – Educational psychology, child’s play
Simon J. Bronner, Pennsylvania State University – American studies, folklore
Stuart Brown, Institute for Play – Play theory, medicine, neuropsychology
Garry Chick, Pennsylvania State University – Anthropology, leisure
Rhonda Clements, Manhattanville College – Early childhood, physical education
Gary Cross, Pennsylvania State University – Cultural history, play history
David Elkind, Tufts University – Early childhood, psychology
Doris Pronin Fromberg, Hofstra University – Early childhood, curriculum design
Joe L. Frost, University of Texas – Austin (Emeritus) – Play, playgrounds
Thomas S. Henricks, Elon University – Sociology, anthropology
Linda E. Homeyer, Texas State University – Play therapy
Joan P. Isenberg, George Mason University – Early childhood (play in the classroom)
Olga S. Jarrett, Georgia State University – Early childhood, recess
Jaak Panksepp, Washington State University – Psychology, neuroscience, autism
Anthony Pellegrini, University of Minnesota – Educational psychology, child’s play
Charles E. Schaefer, Fairleigh Dickinson University – Psychology, play
Allan Schore, University of California at Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine –
Psychiatry, developmental psychology, biobehavorial science, neuroscience
Dorothy G. Singer, Yale University – Psychology, early childhood, play
Jerome L. Singer, Yale University – Psychology, early childhood, play
Brian Sutton-Smith, University of Pennsylvania (Emeritus) – Educational psychology, folklore, play
Marjorie Taylor, University of Oregon – Psychology, fantasy play;
Vivian Paley, University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, (Emerita) – Early childhood, teaching
Strong National Museum of Play®, located in downtown Rochester, New York, is the only museum in the world devoted to the study of play as it illuminates American popular culture.
Hours:
Monday–Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.;
Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Sunday, 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.
Admission Fees:
General Admission (does not include Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden™):
Adults $9.00; Seniors $8.00; Children (2–17) $7.00; Children younger than two free; Strong members free.
Admission to Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden™:
General Admission fee plus $3.00 per person for members and nonmembers; Children younger than two free.
Due to limited capacity, entry to Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden™ is by timed tickets only. Advance purchase is recommended. Please call 585-263-2700 to purchase timed tickets.