SHA Public Education and Information Committee
Margaret Purser, Chair
The summer of 2006 has been an active one for PEIC-related activities. Patrice Jeppson, working in conjunction with colleagues Carol McDavid (SAA PEC), Mary Kwas (SAA PEC-Web Page Working Group), and Maureen Malloy (Society for American Archaeology Manager of Education and Outreach), has announced the unveiling of "Archaeology for the Public," now live at www.saa.org/public. This is "a useful resource for your next outreach activity, public session, archaeology month event, and college course!" These Web pages are designed for members of the public who want to know more about archaeology, as well as for archaeologists, educators, and interpreters who share archaeological information with the public. Patti asks that you please check out this informative site, and provide whatever feedback you can, especially "any resources or links that you have or that you feel should be included!" to her at pjeppson@speakeasy.net.
Margaret Purser contributed to a series of July and August workshops as part of the "Teaching American History" grant program in northern California. The product of an interdisciplinary team of historians and education professionals working with k-12 teachers from three local school districts, (and now a historical archaeologist!), "the TRADITION Project-Teaching American History 2 is designed to deliver a three-year program of professional development and training in American history content and to provide quality instruction to elementary school teachers. The Project's outcome will result in a sustainable network that will provide continuing history education and professional development for those teachers. The standards based training will include the integration of U.S. History and Language Arts curriculum, strategies for improving reading comprehension, and the use of technology in the classroom." The grant directors solicited the historical archaeology contribution as a means of providing k-12 teacher participants with curriculum materials keyed to local historic sites and parks that would help them teach national history curriculum standards content using local California events, sites, and artifacts. The summer program culminated in a two-day visit to Fort Ross, which included presentations on the fort's history and archaeology by Glenn Farris. Check out the program (and the Fort Ross photos!) at www.sonoma.edu/tah2/institutes/ftross.html.
Upcoming fall events include Tricia Samford's "Hands on the Past: An Introduction to North Carolina Archaeology Workshop." This workshop for educators is part of the North Carolina People Across Space and Time (NC-PAST) initiative. NC-PAST consists of three components: a one-day introductory workshop focused on North Carolina archaeology (Hands on the Past); History from Things, a loan-kit program for the classroom; and a more comprehensive workshop focused on North Carolina's human past (to be developed and offered in the future). The initiative is designed to build historical and scientific content knowledge, as well as an understanding of the research process.
The one-day Hands on the Past workshop will be conducted by educators and archaeologists and is aligned with goals from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for grades 4-8. Participants will learn about the science of archaeology and North Carolina's human past through inquiry activities, simulations, and intriguing discussions. Each participant will receive a set of materials that includes a lesson plan/activity sampler for classroom use and information that will be useful in preparing students for Archaeology Days at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh on 18 and 19 November 2006.
Other events to keep an eye on for the fall:
- 8 September: The "Preserve America Summit" in New Orleans, discussed by Doug Scott in our summer Newsletter, will take place 19 to 20 October. Prior to the conference, the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation is soliciting comments on how to define a 'preservation ethic.' Comments can be emailed to presethiccomments@achp.gov prior to 8 September. For more information, check out the discussion at www.achp.gov/summit/comment.html.
- 31 October-5 November: The National Preservation Conference will be held in Pittsburgh, PA. Check out their Web site at www.nthpconference.org/GeneralInfo/.
- 7-11 November: The 2006 National Interpreters Workshop will be held in Albuquerque, NM. PEIC member Linda Derry made a strong pitch earlier this summer for more interaction between the SHA's PEIC and NAI; check out their conference Web site at www.interpnet.com/niw2006/.
- 1-3 December: The next National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference will be held at the Washington D.C. Convention Center in Washington, D.C. The SHA's PEIC will be represented at this conference.
- Public Archaeology Session, SHA Conference in Williamsburg: The PEIC is an official co-sponsor of the Public Archaeology session. This year's session is being organized by Tonia Deetz Rock of APVA (trock@apva.org). Julia King (jking@smcm.edu) is also heading up development and funding efforts for the Saturday afternoon event. Anyone interested in participating in the day's activities, or helping with funding efforts, should get in touch directly. Let's make this important public outreach opportunity a real success!
