Sharing Tips and Tricks for Engaging the Public

 At some point in your archaeological career you will have the privilege of engaging with the public. How we engage is mainly learned through a trial and error process. Sometimes you are lucky enough to have someone share with you a tip or trick on how to do it better. There was a session at the 2015 SHA conference that did just that. It asked, ‘Are you at a loss for how to interest the public in your museum or archaeological site? Do you risk losing the public’s short attention span with static outreach programs?’ It featured lightning-fast (3 minute) presentations from a broad range of archaeologists who interact with the public in a wide variety of settings. All of the participants share time-honored as well as innovative techniques designed to engage the public over the short- and long-term in field and laboratory settings.

This session was filmed and you can view the tips and tricks:

Becky O’Sullivan:

Bernard Means:

Build a Archaeology Site:

Elizabeth Bollwerk:

James Gibb:

Joe Bagley:

Jennifer Poulsen:

Karen Price:

Kari Jones:

Mark Freeman:

Scott Williams:

Stefan Woehlke:

There will be a follow-on session at this year’s SHA conference in Washington DC- FOR-045: Teaching the Past to the Huddled Masses, Yearning to Learn: Building an Educational Toolkit for Archaeology. Time: Saturday, 09/Jan/2016, 1:30pm – 5:45pm

Session Abstract: Working as a historical archaeologist in the 21st century presents new and old challenges for women, minorities, and the privileged. Equity Issues affect all whether direct or indirect; this session focuses on the immediate concerns of emerging professionals in both CRM and academia as they navigate upwards in these spheres. The goal of this session is to provide a semi-formal setting for “ladder-climbers” to interact with upper-management through a set question and answer period and informal round table format. Topics discussed include but are not limited to tips and lessons, gender and ethnicity workplace climate. This is an opportunity for professional development at a higher level.

If you like these videos be sure to check out this years conference which will be great. If you are interested in more conference videos check out Recording Archaeology and subscribe there to receive updates when more videos become available.