This award to Dr. Candace S. Greene (Smithsonian Institution) provides support for a workshop on training students to use anthropological museum collections. America's extensive museum collections are presently underutilized in anthropological research. These objects constitute an empirical record of cultural practices over time, recording behavior in a different way than written sources. Museum objects carry unique information about the past, whether they are recent products of societies responding to globalization or ancient materials from archaeological sites destroyed long ago. However, there is presently little formal training in the United States in appropriate methods for use of this body of information. Few universities offer coursework and few students have access to collections of sufficient depth and breadth to learn through experience.
The Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, is developing plans for a graduate summer training program in research methods for the use of anthropological museum collections. The program will utilize the Smithsonian's extensive collections to train students from throughout the nation in collection-based research methods. The overall objective of the training program is to improve science education and to promote better use of anthropological collections held in public museums. NSF funding will advance development of this program by helping to support a planning workshop that will bring together scholars of diverse backgrounds, including museum experts, to advise on curriculum design.
