Education Where You Least Expect It: Expanding Access to Submerged Cultural Resources in the Time of a Global Pandemic

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Outreach and Education: Bringing it Home to the Public (General Sessions)" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Over the past thirty years, the Maritime Preservation Program at the Wisconsin Historical Society has focused on implementing a diverse outreach program that fosters a preservation ethic and responsible site visitation as an important aspect of submerged resource preservation. While the initial focus was solely on divers, in recent years, the program has expanded to include other, less-traditional outreach initiatives intended to educate non-divers, hoping to increase their appreciation of Wisconsin’s submerged maritime resources. Two increasingly popular activities have proved extremely successful: geocaching and paddler’s trails. Both initiatives have allowed the Maritime Program to engage individuals who would otherwise not be exposed to maritime educational resources. While initially developed to broaden the Society’s educational reach beyond divers, these initiatives have become increasingly relevant and useful resources during a public health crisis, allowing the Maritime Program to continue providing educational maritime experiences during a time when social distancing is so important.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Outreach and Education: Bringing it Home to the Public (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology