Workshop: Training Issues in Collections-Based Anthropological Research

这一奖项授予坎迪斯·S·格林博士(史密森学会)，为培训学生使用人类学博物馆藏品的研讨会提供支持。美国大量的博物馆藏品目前在人类学研究中没有得到充分利用。这些物件构成了一段时间以来文化实践的经验记录，以一种不同于书面来源的方式记录行为。博物馆的文物携带着关于过去的独特信息，无论它们是社会对全球化做出反应的最新产品，还是来自很久以前被摧毁的考古遗址的古代材料。然而，目前美国很少有关于使用这类信息的适当方法的正式培训。很少有大学提供课程作业，也很少有学生有机会获得足够深度和广度的藏品，通过经验学习。史密森学会国家自然历史博物馆人类学部门正在制定一项研究生暑期培训计划，内容是如何使用人类学博物馆藏品的研究方法。该计划将利用史密森学会的广泛藏品来培训全国各地的学生使用基于藏品的研究方法。培训计划的总体目标是改善科学教育，促进更好地利用公共博物馆收藏的人类学藏品。NSF的资金将通过帮助支持一个规划研讨会来推动这一项目的发展，该研讨会将把包括博物馆专家在内的不同背景的学者聚集在一起，就课程设计提供建议。

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.