Time Jumpers: Community-Based Approaches to Archaeology in the Classroom

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Touching the Past: Public Archaeology Engagement through Existing Collections" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Unearthing Detroit Project is a collections-based research and public archaeology initiative focused on the historical collections housed in the Grosscup Museum of Anthropology at Wayne State University. Reflecting on our experiences and integrated feedback has allowed Unearthing Detroit to consider the ways that differences in audience, message, and level of engagement alter our approach for connecting with the public at varying times and places. This paper focuses on the school outreach program, Time Jumpers, which has run as part of the project for the last 4 years. Time Jumpers is designed to introduce archaeology to middle school students in southeast Michigan through hands-on activities, artifact interpretations, and classroom discussions. The portable learning program uses artifacts local to Detroit as a case study for linking students with tangible remnants of their shared regional history and recognizing the value in protecting cultural resources. It is hoped that such local examples create a pathway for fostering an appreciation of history and instilling a sense of stewardship which will hopefully be carried into adulthood.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Touching the Past: Public Archaeology Engagement through Existing Collections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26143