Tag Archive for: smithsonian institution

Innovation in Education at the 2012 Affiliations Conference

/in , , /by

From programs on the ground in local communities to reaching diverse audiences with new technology, Affiliates and the Smithsonian are creating innovative learning experiences that are changing the role museums play for students. These innovators in education will share their successes during two separate sessions at the 2012 Affiliations National Conference, June 12 – 14. 

In September 2004, the Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA) began a transformative journey to Little Rock, AR, where former internees and their families, students and educators gathered to examine and reflect upon the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Arkansas students candidly discuss what they learned from studying the Japanese American incarceration and how the experience is connected to their own lives in this video. Allyson Nakamoto, Manager of Teacher Programs at the museum is one of five Affiliate speakers discussing the impact programs like these have on the local community in the session Innovation in Education, Part 1: Smithsonian Affiliates as Catalysts of Change on Wednesday, June 13.  

How are inventors inspired by the places where they live and work?  What might a place of invention look like? Using 21st-century skills, Places of Invention, will highlight innovative places and communities across the US, including six Affiliate communities. With Lemelson’s training, Affiliates will be conducting community research and producing documentation projects of their own cities with a local community partner.  The content they produce – videos, images, oral histories, exhibitions and programs of their own – will enrich the Smithsonian’s exhibition with authentic, locally-based research. Monica Smith, Exhibition Program Manager, Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History, and an Affiliate partner will discuss how Places of Invention will be integrated into interactive educational activities and public programs during Innovation in Education, Part 2: Teaching and Learning with New Technology, Thursday, June 14. Four additional programs that are reaching students using technology will also be highlighted. 

Post-it Note ® Inventor Art Fry

Join us at the 2012 Affiliations National Conference, June 12-14, and meet these innovators in education.  

Register today! 

View the 2012 Conference Agenda. 

Book your hotel room at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel. 

The Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference is for current Affiliates only. If you are interested in becoming an Affiliate, or have an application in progress and would like to attend the Conference, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee for more information.

Jazz Appreciation Month and International Jazz Day

/2 Comments/in , , , /by

The 1st Annual International Jazz Day, formulated by the United States and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)will be held on April 30, 2012. UNESCO officially proclaimed April 30 as International Jazz Day to pay tribute to this uniquely global art form, with distinctly American roots, that is played and enjoyed across cultures, languages, and musical traditions.  Jazz is a powerful unifying force that builds bridges and brings people together. 

In celebration, the U.S. Department of State is partnering with the Smithsonian Institution to showcase jazz events and programs taking place across the country. We have several programs already in the works that you and your community can get involved in, including:

  • UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock will headline a series of concerts on April 30 that will take place at sunrise in New Orleans and at sunset that same evening from New York City. The concerts will be streamed live via the internet.  Stay tuned for the web address.
     
  • Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), held every April and recognized by public law, was launched by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in April 2002. JAM aims to draw greater public attention globally to the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz. For more information on JAM events worldwide, as well as recordings, educational resources, oral histories, blogs, articles, and links to archived and streamed jazz concerts, workshops and discussions, please visit www.smithsonianjazz.org.

Are you interested in joining the celebration of the first-ever International Jazz Day?

Here are a few ways to get involved:

  • Host a Herbie Hancock Listening Party featuring one of the April 30th concerts streamed live on the web.
  • Arrange an International Jazz Day concert in your school or community.
  • Tweet your thoughts on the importance of Jazz: #JazzDay2012
  • Request a 2012 JAM poster featuring Frank Sinatra to alert your community to jazz events or artifacts at your organization.
  • Keep an eye on the JAM events calendar and take part in an event in your community, or add your own by emailing jazz@si.edu!
  • Visit Smithsonian Jazz and discover 112 ideas for celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month.   Many of these ideas will also work for International Jazz Day.

Have any ideas of your own? We’d love to hear about them. Please let us know at jazz@si.edu, and we’ll add them to the JAM U.S. and International event calendar to showcase jazz events around the world.

Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos Program

/3 Comments/in , , , , /by

Teach kids astronomy by controlling real telescopes over the internet, and create images like these!

Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos Program is a special opportunity for 25 Affiliates from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and Smithsonian Affiliations. Qualified Affiliates that successfully complete the online professional development program to facilitate the use of the MicroObservatory online telescope system will be awarded $1500 for implementation of Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos Program. Funding has been provided by the Smithsonian Youth Access Grant Fund.   

  • Are you an Affiliate educator interested in sharing the art and science of astrophotography with youth in your community?   
  • Does your organization have an informal education program, partnerships with area community centers or middle schools and interest in providing enrichment activities for students based on STEM? 
  • Can your museum or organization implement a workshop for middle school students, underserved by science and technology educational programs, ages 12 – 18   (minimum of 10 or more students) and facilitate an 8 – 20 hour program? 
  • Would you like to learn how to organize and promote an exhibition of youth-created astronomy photographs? 

For more information on the program, join us for a Teleconference to discuss implementing Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos Program on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. 

Dial In:  1-877-860-3058
Participant Pass code:  607773
Call in and learn about participating in this program before registration goes live.  

Talk to SAO astronomy educators Mary Dussault and Erin Braswell. Smithsonian Affiliations representatives Christina Di Meglio Lopez and Caroline Mah will also be available to answer questions.

Follow the MicroObservatory’s Twitter feed; Facebook page; and Flickr photostream.

Telescopes "Ben" and "Cecilia" at the Whipple Observatory in Amado, AZ. Along with "Annie," located on the roof at SAO, they are three in a network of telescopes, controllable over the internet, helping students learn more about astronomy. Photo Credit: Dan Brocious/SAO.

Native Film Festival Collaborations

/in , , , /by

A postcard annoucing the event with Elizabeth Weatherford at the Agua Calinte Cultural Museum

 

Later this month, the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum (Palm Springs, CA) will host their annual Festival of Native Film & Culture in collaboration with the Film and Video Center at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).  Elizabeth Weatherford, Director of the Film and Video Center at NMAI, works closely with Agua Caliente staff to identify exciting films and filmmakers working from a Native American perspective.  A highlight of this popular event is the commentary Elizabeth provides prior to screening the films and an engaging Q&A afterwards.  This year Elizabeth will give an illustrated lecture about the emerging world of indigenous films.

Michael Hammond, Executive Director at Agua Caliente, talks about the partnership:

“Elizabeth has been our guest programmer for several years now.  Our Festival of Native Film and Culture deals with Native American and Indigenous films from around the world.  Elizabeth has her finger on the pulse of the Native and Indigenous film world.  From cutting-edge shorts to feature films, she has given us the best that the genre has to offer.  Under her tutelage, we have grown in both quality and stature.”

The Native Eyes Film Festival at the Arizona State Museum/ Hanson Film Institute

Elizabeth has also worked with other Affiliates on film festivals; she continues to work with the Arizona State Museum and the Hanson Film Institute, both at the University of Arizona on an annual event, the Native Eyes Film Showcase.  Lisa Falk, Director of Education and Associate Curator at the Arizona State Museum, discussed the ways that Elizabeth Weatherford has worked with them:

“Elizabeth, her staff and the resources of the Film and Video Center are invaluable to us as they provide a depth of understanding of Native filmmaking and festival organization as well as connections to filmmakers.  We have worked with Elizabeth Weatherford and her staff on our Native Eyes Film Showcase for years- consulting with them about new films and filmmakers and receiving recommendations.  The NMAI Film and Video Center helps us add breadth and depth to our programming, in particular enabling us to learn about and include films from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to our offerings.”

Let us know if you’re interested in a film series of your own- we can connect you with Elizabeth Weatherford at NMAI or other resources at the Smithsonian.  (Special thanks to Michael Hammond and Lisa Falk for images and insights!)

Exchange Boards: Post Your Exhibitions, Programs, Jobs Here

/in , , , /by

Are you looking for a job or have one to announce? Are you searching for a new exhibition or a program for your museum? Do you have an exhibition or a program you’d like to travel to other Affiliates? 

You may have forgotten that the Smithsonian Affiliations website is your one-stop-shop for these types of announcements. On our Exchange Boards you can post a job you’d like to fill, announce a new traveling exhibition, or promote a program that’s available to other Affiliate organizations.  

Further your reach by submitting your job, exhibition, or program announcements with us and we’ll not only post on our website, but also promote it across our new media platforms.

Exhibition Exchange
Emails requesting exhibition exchange postings must be submitted in the following format:

  • Complete Affiliate name, city, and state
  • Brief description of available exhibition (1 or 2 short sentences)
  • Contact information for anyone interested
  • Attached PDF or Word document including all the necessary information about the exhibit
  • Complete link to the traveling exhibit page (if not using PDF)

Example: George Mendoza: Colors of the Wind
Presented by the Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa, TX.
New Mexico artist George Mendoza paints with a passion, revealing a unique inner vision and confidence, coupled with insight and creativity. His work, abstract in nature and brightly colored reflects his current physical “sight” intertwined with his dreams, memories, and emotional experiences. The exhibition includes 25-30 oil/acrylic paintings ranging in sizes from 20×30 to 48×60; fabric panels and quilts; text panels; label and educational material available on disk. Affiliates who are interested in hosting the exhibition should contact Doylene Land at doylene@noelartmuseum.org.

Program Exchange
Emails requesting exhibition exchange postings must be submitted in the following format:

  • Complete Affiliate name, city, and state abbreviation
  • Description and details of the program (including cost and available dates)
  • Attached PDF or Word document including all necessary information about the program

Example: Falling to Earth: An Apollo Astronaut’s Journey to the Moon lecture and book signing event opportunity with Apollo 15 astronaut, Al Worden.

Jobs Exchange
Job announcements must be submitted as a separate attachment (Word document or PDF) including:

  • Complete Affiliate name (and logo if possible)
  • Job title
  • Full job description
  • Deadlines
  • Contact information

Example: Flushing Town Hall

For more information, or to post an announcement, contact Elizabeth Bugbee.

 

Mastodon Menagerie

/in , , , /by

Special thanks for this guest post to James “Zach” Zacharias, Senior Curator of Education and Curator of History at The Museum of Arts and Sciences, a Smithsonian Affiliate in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

James "Zach" Zacharias, Senior Curator of Education at the Museum of Arts and Sciences, with one of the tusks from an adult mastodon. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Arts and Sciences.

The Monday morning before Thanksgiving 2011 seemed like any other day at the Museum of Arts & Sciences (MOAS) until the City of Daytona Beach emailed me a picture of what appeared to be a large lower jawbone. The City had been excavating a drainage pond two miles north of the Museum and workers found massive and mysterious bones. Upon closer inspection of the image, it became clear to me that I was looking at the lower mandible and teeth of an American Mastodon. 

The City promptly postponed construction so MOAS could dispatch personnel to the site. Although I was in a shirt and tie, I jumped into the mud- and muck-filled pit for a closer look! Within five minutes, I located a partially exposed tusk protruding from the pond’s north wall. As I investigated the layers of earth, I knew right there and then this was the tusk of an Ice Age mammoth or mastodon. It dawned on me this was turning into an incredible prehistoric discovery for our area. With hopes of unearthing the full skeleton, we set to work. 

An army of Museum staff and associates quickly converged on the site to help in the excavation effort. With painstaking care and effort, two delicate partial tusks were removed. These precious pieces of the Pleistocene were each placed in a “plaster jacket” (a protective covering used by paleontologists to move fossil specimens from the field) and moved to their secure home at the Museum. 

Assorted museum staff and volunteers at the construction site at the bottom of the drainage pond being excavated. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Arts and Sciences.

The rest of the excavation soon turned into a salvage operation. Unbeknownst to the workers, a portion of the skeleton (other than tusks) which was interspersed amongst the rocks and stones had been routinely put through a giant rock screener. This broke up some parts of the skeletal remains. As MOAS representatives sifted through the debris piles, a plethora of broken vertebra, ribs, limbs and skull bones were found. Currently, MOAS is cleaning, sorting and accessioning the fossils. A portion of the femur is currently being prepared for carbon dating by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  

A construction worker found this lower mandible of the American Mastodon. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Arts and Sciences.

This is the second significant paleontological find for the Museum of Arts & Sciences – the first being the 1975 discovery of the remains of 13 giant ground sloths in a barrow pit near Nova and Reed Canal roads. MOAS proudly displays the most complete and best preserved giant ground sloth skeleton in the world.  

Florida’s peninsula has submerged and re-emerged numerous times as the earth has passed through ice ages and warming trends. The paleontology of Florida demonstrates there were no dinosaurs here (the state was underwater during the Mesozoic Era) and this is reflected in the abundant marine fossils found in Central Florida. The animal fossils found here belong to “mega-fauna” mammals such as the giant ground sloth, mastodons and mammoths, saber cats, dire wolfs, paleo llamas, and the glyptodon. They roamed our landscape from 130,000 to 10,000 years ago.  

James "Zach" Zacharias with the assorted bone fragments from the mastodon. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Arts and Sciences.

The discovery of the Daytona Beach American Mastodon is thrilling and exciting for the Museum, the City and our community. MOAS is looking forward to adding the fossils to an exhibit for all to see –encouraging inspiration, curiosity, and the love of knowledge.