As Senior Advisor for Interpretive Initiatives, Benjamin Filene focuses on interpretive planning and visioning for MNHS’s exhibitions program. He comes to MNHS from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where he served as Deputy Director of Public History, overseeing the museum’s interpretive exhibition, collections, education, digital and research functions. In many ways, though, Benjamin’s professional (and a good chunk of personal) heart lies in Minnesota, where he spent a pivotal decade early in his career. He served MNHS as Senior Exhibit Developer and was lead developer on the exhibitions Sounds Good To Me: Music in Minnesota and Open House: If These Walls Could Talk.
After straying from Minnesota, Benjamin served as director of public history and a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he initiated a series of collaborative public projects with students and community partners. He then served as chief curator at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.
Benjamin gained international perspective through a Fulbright Fellowship with the Helsinki City Museum and the University of Helsinki, which further advanced his interest in how museums can foster collective identity. He holds a PhD in American Studies from Yale and AB in History from Brown.