Archaeology is Appealing: Collaborative Approaches to Foster Public Engagement with the Past

Summary

The technology industry is rapidly transforming the social and physical landscape of San Francisco. While the city’s zeitgeist is orientated toward the future, archaeologists labor to recover and record its vanishing history. The enormous scale of construction has resulted in an unprecedented volume of artifacts and data that all too often languish on shelves and in gray literature. Budget crunches and curation crises have led to cooperation with institutions at the forefront of public education. WSA has collaborated with the Exploratorium's Bay Observatory, an innovative museum of science, art, and human perception that aims to create experiences that spark curiosity. The goal of this partnership is to encourage exploration of the stories embedded in the dynamic landscape of the city. Together we have generated interactive exhibits, 3D replicas, documentaries, and science nights that resonate with the public in the creation of a shared heritage that is continually under development.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016   •
• Praxis and Value in Performing Archaeology: Heritage, Affect, and the Relevancy of Archaeological Research

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 538