|
||||||||||||
|
| SAA Excellence in
Public Education Committee Members |
Since 1985, Linda Derry has been Site Director and historical archaeologist for the Old Cahawba Preservation Project, an archaeological park managed by the Alabama Historical Commission. In this position, Linda undertakes significant levels of public outreach. Her research at the site involves extensive public outreach with descendant communities. Linda is an NAI certified “Interpretive Guide” and teaches workshops on interpretive theory and practice for the needs of archaeology site interpretation. In the past, Linda worked for museums like the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and for state historic preservation offices in Alabama, Virginia, Massachusetts and Illinois. Linda is an active member of the Society for Historical Archaeology’s Public Education and Information Committee (PEIC). Since 1992, she has been a member of the Society for American Archaeology's Public Education Committee (PEC). She is a Network Coordinator for SAA PEC for the State of Alabama. In this capacity, she helps keep track of the educational offerings made available by archaeologists in her state and is a dedicated contact person for Alabama educators seeking archaeology information. Linda is also a Project Archaeology Coordinator for Alabama. (Project Archaeology is an educational program originally designed by the Bureau of Land Management that has now entered into a public/private partnership with an environmental group called The Watercourse.) Project Archaeology is designed to teach the value of our cultural heritage to children. Regional Project Archaeology facilitators like Linda provide training and mentoring to local educators, who in turn introduce archaeology into the classroom. Linda is Co-author of Discovering Alabama Archaeology (‘Project Archaeology's’ State Handbook), a resource designed to be used by school educators. Linda has co-organized and/or presented in several conference sessions on public archaeology in both the US and abroad, presenting on both theoretical issues and interpretation strategies. She has also published on these topics and is co-editor of the SAA handbook, Archaeologists and Local Communities: Partners in Exploring the Past. For more than 15 years, Linda has been active in the local avocational concern, the Alabama Archaeological Society (AAS), where she has served in various elected positions from Secretary to Program Chair to President. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of their Public Education Committee. She helped AAS to develop and administer a grant to fund public education activities. Linda was recently named to the Editorial Board for American Archaeology, the magazine of the Archaeological Conservancy. Since 1979, Kris Hirst has been Web-Master for archaeology.about.com, a World Wide Web site promoting and fostering archaeology on the internet that is archived at about.com (previously The Mining Company). In this capacity, Kris has developed and maintained the longest running and most comprehensive offering of links and resources to archaeology-related material on the web. The site presents information about archaeology from around the world, including excavations past and present, museums, educational resources, cultural histories, and information about past and present inhabitants. Beyond an unparalleled array of links, one can subscribe to newsletters, to a bulletin board, chat, receive up to date info on events, and, in keeping with the interactive nature of the medium, find forms for recommending a web site along with a means for evaluating them. This cyber-mine of information is designed for professionals, students, teachers, and enthusiasts. Kris has also written more than 200 weekly articles about archaeology for the public published at archaeology.about.com. Kris is a principal investigator for the Cultural Resource Group of Louis Berger Group, Inc., in Iowa City where she writes and edits technical and popular reports on archaeology, and maintains the CRG webpage. Kris is also co-editor of The Wasteflake Project an experimental project that uses open-source Wiki (“Quick Web”) technology to facilitate conversations on culture and science among people from all over the world. This new technology medium expands the potential use of the Internet as a collaborative tool among scientists and the interested public. Using a Wiki, internet users interact (create and edit) web pages as part of an active, Internet-based, “group think” dialogue. This communication method moves beyond the electronic discussion list (which permits free flow interaction between scholars in a given field), the internet journal (which allows online scholarly publication to become more widely disseminated), and the usual ‘web site’ (a passive form of information delivery) to allow immediate communication and open collaboration among researchers and others -- whether they are based in universities or not, in different departments or fields of endeavor, or in different countries and in different languages. The WasteFlake Project is a unique form of outreach in that it combines the intimacy and informality of a conference symposium with the inclusivity of the Internet, linking like-interested people around the world in both structured and free-form discussions about the interface between science and culture. Patrice L. Jeppson (Committee Chair, 2002-2005) Between 1998 and 2002, Patrice L. Jeppson undertook participant observation research investigating how to more effectively bring archaeology into the public schools. Working as part of the Center for Archaeology/Baltimore County Public Schools (Office of Social Studies/Educational Support Services) she assisted the Center’s Director (a Social Studies Specialist) in implementing a sequential, integrated, program of archaeology education in the 22nd largest US public school district via school visitation programs, co-supervising field archaeology activities, and writing archaeology-enriched elementary, middle, and high school readings and curriculum exercises. This research has been reported on in several archaeology conferences and publications. Patrice has co-organized and participated in several conference sessions, both in the US and abroad, devoted to exploring the theoretical issues and applied practices of public archaeology. She is active in the Society for Historical Archaeology’s Public Education and Information Committee (PEIC) where she is tasked with Kindergarten-12th Grade Education Issues (2001-present). In this position, she co-organized a Panel Discussion, ‘Reach America’ – Looking to the Future of Archaeology and the Public Schools (in 2002), bringing educators - including the leadership of the National Council for the Social Studies – together with a range of publicly active archaeologists from different archaeological entities (SAA, SHA, independent scholars) to discuss the role of archaeology, and the opportunities for archaeologists in formal school programming. She was also primary organizer of the SHA PEIC 2003 Public Session event, "How Can Archaeology Be Used In The Classroom?”, a deconstruction/translation of current archaeology research designed for both local teachers and the SHA membership. Patrice is also a member of the SAA PEC where she serves on the Web Page Working Group (2001-present). With C. McDavid, M. Kwas, and J. Schuldes she co-developed and submitted a Public Web Page Design Plan to SAA in 2002. She currently helps coordinate content development for this set of new SAA public archaeology web pages. In the past, Patrice developed museum exhibits, including a traveling education case, related to both research and cultural resources management projects undertaken in California and South Africa. She taught for several years as an Adjunct Lecturer at California State University, Bakersfield (1993-1997) incorporating a unit on Public Archaeology into an historical archaeology course (1997). She taught the inaugural archaeology course offered at the University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa in 1992. Patrice is currently conducting public archaeology research for the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Consortium, using Franklin-related archaeological evidence for the needs of an international loan exhibit, a Frankliniana Database, and educational outreach programs to be disseminated over the Internet. For the past two decades, Ann E. Killebrew has been involved in public archaeology and heritage programs in Israel and Belgium. Ann is currently co-principal investigator for the Wye River People to People program, a US State Department program to encourage cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. The project, entitled ‘Recognizing and Preserving the Common Heritage of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority-A Plan for Cross-Cultural Education and Community Involvement in the Development of Historical and Archaeological Sites’, is designed specifically for Israeli and Palestinian community members and educators to promote shared heritage as a means of working towards peace and understanding in the Middle East. This program is a joint effort of the University of Haifa and the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange that entails the documentation of historic structures and oral histories of the local communities, community conservation of archaeological sites, educational programs on the university and community levels, and digitizing archival documents related to the heritage of Akko, Al Jib (Gibeon), and Beitin (Bethel). From 1997-2001 Ann was a faculty member in the Department of Archaeology, the University of Haifa. During this period, she developed a graduate-level program in public archaeology, the first of its kind in Israel. She continues to coordinate two graduate level courses at the University of Haifa in heritage and public archaeology that also form part of the Wye River educational program.
Ann also served as a consultant in heritage education at the Ename
Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation (1997-2002)
in Belgium
(). Her projects included designing and coordinating
several undergraduate university
summer courses and workshops on European heritage in cooperation
the University of Maryland College Park (with Mark Leone, Paul
Shackel, and Frank McManamon;
see Ann has also directed public presentation projects at several archaeological sites in Israel including ancient Qasrin and Tel Megiddo (Armageddon). She is currently directing a program in public archaeology and outreach at the Tel Dor excavations. Ann is currently an assistant professor of archaeology of the Levant under a joint appointment in Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Jewish Studies at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park. She has authored several articles on public archaeology and site interpretation in Israel. Since 1996, Mary L. Kwas has been the Education Specialist for the Arkansas Archeological Survey, a unit of the University of Arkansas System. In this capacity, Mary produces educational materials for teachers, represents the Survey at teachers' conferences and workshops, serves as Coordinator for Arkansas Archeology Month, and assists the amateur Arkansas Archeological Society in a number of its activities. Mary also provides regular public outreach content for several web sites and she served as Project Manager of the First Encounters educational CD-ROM project and as scriptwriter for the Crossroads of the Past, a video produced by the Survey. Between 1991 and 1995, Mary was Curator of Education at Chucalissa Museum (an archaeological park), University of Memphis, where she developed a number of public programs for the museum, including Archaeology Day, More Than Bows & Arrows, and Native American Days (a 3-day event targeted to elementary school children that brought the largest daily attendance to the museum in its history). From 1980 to 1986, she was Park Manager for Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Area where she directed the development of the site's museum, library, and public programs - initiating her long-time interest in heritage tourism issues, which has resulted in a number of publications on the subject. Mary became an adjunct member of the SAA Public Education Committee (PEC) in 1991, and a full member in 1997. She serves on the SAA PEC's Internet and Heritage Tourism subcommittee member and she is the SAA PEC Network Coordinator for Arkansas. Mary is also a member of the Web Page task group (2001-present) and, with C. McDavid, P. Jeppson, and J. Schuldes, co-developed and submitted a Public Web Page Design Plan to SAA in 2002. She currently helps coordinate content development for this set of new SAA Public Archaeology web pages. Since 2000, Mary has served as Editor of the Society for American Archaeology Public Education Committee’s e-newsletter Archaeology & Public Education (A&PE). Previously, from 1991-1998, Mary was Editor of the "Archaeological Parks" column in the print version of Archaeology & Public Education. Mary brings other relevant experiences to the committee’s duties. These include her tenure as a Member of the Award of Merit Committee for the Tennessee Association of Museums (1993-4) and her time as a Grants Field Reviewer for the Institute of Museum Services, Washington, D.C. (1984-1986). Mary has published a number of articles on various public education topics. For more than 30 years, George Brauer has taught archaeology as part of social studies education in the Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) (Maryland). Over the years, as a classroom teacher, a Department Head, and now at the District Level-- as a Social Studies Curriculum Specialist in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction--George has integrated archaeology content into school lesson plans, student readers, student assessments, and teacher guides for social studies subjects taught in grades K-12. George is Founder and Director of the Center for Archaeology/Baltimore County Public Schools, an outdoor education facility established in 1983 to support the District’s essential curriculum. At this facility, archaeology has been used as a means for teaching thousands of students social studies content. Archaeology is also used for professional development in Teacher In-Service programming. (Information on the BCPS program of archaeology education is archived at here.) George was recipient of the 2001 SAA Excellence in Public Education Award. His high school curriculum Critical Thinking and Archaeology received the National Council for the Social Studies’ Award for Outstanding Curriculum in the Nation (1994). His co-authored, Grade 3 Gifted and Talented (GT) archaeology curriculum' received the National Association of Gifted Children’s Curriculum Study Award (in 2001) . In 1999, George received the Archaeology Society of Maryland’s Patricia Seitz Memorial Teacher of the Year Certificate of Excellence. George has 30 years of volunteer experience on prehistoric and historical archaeology sites in the Mid-Atlantic region. He presents and publishes on his archaeology education program in both education and archaeology venues, including a co-authored contribution to the recent SAA publication, Archaeologists and Local Communities: Partners in Exploring the Past. |