Several weeks ago I received a call from Native American Public Telecommunications
inviting me to attend the Media for Change workshop. The name alone was appealing, but then I learned it would be during Indian Market in Santa Fe. Would I want to join them? Hmmm…. Santa Fe during Indian Market, an event displaying fantastic Native ingenuity and creativity in art, film and music; a meeting to talk about how film can be used in education to inspire reflection and action among students. Hard decision…. Not. I wouldn’t miss it. … » Read more »
Media for Change
Learning the Ollie
I’m in Los Angeles for a workshop and had a bit of free time before it began. Of course, being a desert dweller, I headed straight for the Pacific Ocean to feel sand and cold water between my toes and a cool breeze on my skin. Walking from the bus stop to the beach, a skateboard shop caught my eye. So in the name of research, I stopped in.
Research? Yes, research for an exhibit opening October 15th … » Read more »
Archaeologists Help Kids Save the Future
Our guest blogger today is Dr. Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman. She shares how curious and resourceful 10-14 year olds can be when trying to save humankind and the crucial role archaeologists played. Dr. Pavao-Zuckerman is Associate Curator of Zooarchaeology at Arizona State Museum and Associate Professor in the University of Arizona’s School of Anthropology.
“Finally, an archaeologist.” Not a reaction that members of my chosen profession are generally accustomed to, particularly in the context of solving the future’s greatest mystery … » Read more »
Many Mexicos: Exhibitions as Creative Team Products
Our guest blogger today is Whitney Klotz. I met Whitney while she was working on a BA in Anthropology at the University of Arizona. As part of my class, she led tours in the Paths of Life exhibit. Enjoying working in the museum, she went on to pursue a MA in Museum Studies from George Washington University. To complete her degree, she returned to ASM for an internship in the education office. Her blog explores how exhibitions are crafted.
As one explores an exhibition – dutifully reading labels, cautiously leaning in to scrutinize an artifact – it might seem that an authoritative, all-knowing mind or voice has dictated the exhibition’s content and messages; however, that is not the case. A museum exhibition is a creative product crafted by a team of individuals working to tell a story using objects. An exhibition reflects the knowledge, interests, and skills of the people who produce it.
ASM’s latest exhibition, Many Mexicos: Vistas de la Frontera, is the result of a major team effort. As ASM Exhibit Coordinator Davison Koenig put it, to create an exhibition that is a “walk-through of Mexican history (from the pre-Columbian period to the modern day) in just 1600 square feet” is no easy task. … » Read more »
Vanished! Help Needed! (not an April Fool’s joke!)
A mystery is brewing at the Smithsonian Institution and the scientists there need the help of youth ages 10 ½ to 14 to solve it. This challenge provides a grand opportunity to play an online science-fiction interactive mystery game, VANISHED, that leads to discovering the truth about an environmental disaster on Planet Earth. Do you know a middle-school student who would like to help unlock the true secrets of this catastrophe–before it’s too late? If so urge them to join the game! They will use real scientific methods, confer with experts, and search for clues both online and in their community to unravel the game’s secrets. … » Read more »
Museum-Buffet: Programs du Jour
Today’s guest blogger is Kasey Harrington, a student in Cultural Resources Management at Vancouver Island University in Canada, who brought her curiosity, excitement for cultural learning, and museums to ASM’s education office for a winter internship. Her thoughts below, make me ask, “When was the last time you visited a museum? Has your child’s class gone on a museum fieldtrip recently?”
Times, they are a-changin’ and budget woes and other tightening measures often have unintended implications on K-12 education and informal learning opportunities. Unfortunately, in the roiling cauldron of cultural education debate, fieldtrips to museums and cultural programming get put on the backburner… if not thrown into the fire, to brighten the flame for standardized testing.
In doing so, museum educators are challenged to change their ingredients to logically satisfy this debatable recipe. … » Read more »
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: A Living Document
This post is the remarks given by Dr. Michael Brescia at the opening of the exhibit of pages from the original Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, on loan from the National Archives. The pages and related materials are on display at Arizona State Museum only through the month of February. Please do not cite or quote this blog entry without permission of Dr. Brescia (contact Dr. Brescia by email).
Museums, libraries, and archives display important documents and objects from their collections for many reasons, of course, but often do so in an effort to inform the public of how the displayed items fashioned the drama of the human experience, or, conversely, reflected its mundane and routine dimensions. … » Read more »
Learning from the Public
This blog is written by Caitlin Wyler as a reflection on the internship she had in the education office at the Arizona State Museum last semester. Caitlin is a senior majoring in Anthropology with a minor in Spanish and History. Next year she plans to go to graduate school to specialize in museum education.
There is no better way to learn than from other people. My internship at the Arizona State Museum this past semester was a great learning experience, thanks in great part to my work with the public. I have interned in other museums but this was the first time I was able to work this closely with public audiences. … » Read more »
A cell phone in every hand; a mobile app to teach
Smart phones are becoming more and more popular and accessible. IPhones, Androids, Droids… sounds like Star Wars fighters. Cell phones, though, are not warriors, but rather communicators and equalizers, educators and learning tools. Cell phones are tools of empowerment for people all over.
Internet access and mobile apps are taking the phone beyond being solely a communication device. … » Read more »
Ojibwe Potter Carrie Estey (Ortiz)
Carrie painting mural for ASM exhibit
On Friday, September 24, 2010, the world lost another talented teacher and Native American artist, Carrie Estey. In 2002-2003, while pursuing a Master’s degree in American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona, Carrie worked at the Arizona State Museum. … » Read more »
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