is an ongoing field of study. However, the common thread of New Museology is that it has always involved some form of “radical reassessment of the roles of museums within society”. Critical theorists like Michel Foucault, Walter Benjamin, and Benedict Anderson also had a profound influence on late 20th and early 21st century museology. As other disciplines began to be critically reassessed, often adding the term “critical” to their new titles (i.e. critical race theory), a discourse of critical museology also emerged, intensifying around the turn of the 21st century. It arose from a similar critical discourse as New Museology and shares many of its features, so much so that many scholars disagree about the extent to which you can distinguish one from the other. In other words, while some scholars say that New Museology was a watershed moment in the late 20th century and critical museology is a related but separate movement in the early 21st century, others argue that New Museology is an ongoing field of study that has many manifestations and names, one of which is critical museology The latest movements in museology tend to focus on museums being interdisciplinary, multi-vocal, accessible, and open to criticism. While these critical discourses dominate contemporary museology, there are many different kinds of museums that exist today, some are engaged in new and innovative practices, and others are more traditional and therefore, less critical. Operational museology Operational museology refers to the day-to-day operations of a museum, including its organizational and regulatory structures, institutional policies and protocols (procedural, ethical, etc.), collections management (including conservation and restoration), and its exhibitions and programs. While there has been much scholarship around operational museology over the last 30 years, some scholars argue that it has lacked sustained analysis. Scholarship concerning operational museology has also overlapped with critical museology and other developments in the field. Public role of museums Operational museology has shifted in the late 20th and 21st century to position the museum as a central institution that serves the public by informing culture, history, and art while creating space for challenging conversations. Museums are thus perceived as cultural communicators that can reconstruct and reconnect cultural memory to the viewing public by collecting, preserving, documenting, and interpreting material culture. For example, many history museums engage with public memory from a multi-vocal perspective and present critical narratives regarding current sociopolitical issues. Other history museums, however, keep nationalistic