Public Programs and Covid: Response from Participant Programs at James Madison’s Montpelier

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The Montpelier Archaeology Department has a long tradition of publicly engaged participant programs that feature hands-on learning. At the time of writing this abstract, we had decided to move forward with our week-long public programs. We adapted by changing our field procedures to ensure proper social distancing, have all activities for the week take place outside, and run as many parts of the program through web-based meetings. We sought feedback from participants on developing procedures and gauged interest and comfort of our participants. The feedback that we received was a mix of desire to return to our programs and concern over procedures. This paper will look at the successes and challenges of running these programs and discuss feedback from both staff and participants in this process.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Adaptation and Alteration: The New Realities of Archaeology during a Pandemic   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology