Education Outreach

Education Outreach

Rock Art

The Challenge of Archaeology

The challenge of archaeology is to explain findings in the archaeological record and reconstruct culture histories and past lifeways. New Mexico has one of the oldest continuous archaeological records of human habitation in the United States. This record extends our understanding of the past far beyond written records and documents. The OAS Education Outreach Program is guided by a mission of sharing our knowledge of that past with the public. Our staff has a broad range of experience and expertise. Our endeavors were nationally recognized in 2005 with the Society for American Archaeology's 2005 Award for Excellence in Public Education.

Demonstration of prehistoric crafts at the Pie Town Festival. The OAS adopted education outreach as an office program in 1991. By the end of 2005, OAS staff had delivered some 450 programs to a varied audience of over 50,000 people. We have presented programs in all 33 counties of New Mexico and are currently close to achieving our goal of having talked to at least 100 people in every New Mexico county.

The OAS currently delivers about 20 programs every six months. Education outreach activities have been designed around individual grade school classes interested in archaeology, but also around large regional events such as the Festival of the Cranes in Socorro, involving thousands of people. Programs have been delivered to elementary, middle, and high school students, college students, museum docents, archaeological societies, a wide range of civic groups, and Native American groups. Activities include lectures and slide shows on a wide range of topics and hands-on demonstrations of prehistoric technologies and lifeways. Topics can usually be customized around audience interests. The program is financially supported by grants from the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and money raised by Friends of Archaeology, an MNMF interest group. Beginning in July 2008, State of New Mexico funds will be added to support the program. Although the OAS is based in Santa Fe, we are committed to answering requests from around the state. The availability of activities depends on OAS work schedules and funding.

OAS Celebrates Anniversary with Expanded Outreach Program

Currently, the OAS outreach program reaches every county in the state within a five-year rotation. During the 100th anniversary of the Museum of New Mexico in 2009, we will extend the program to at least one school or civic organization in every county. Programs will be developed in consultation with the host school or group, selecting from the wide variety of hands-on offerings that have gained OAS national recognition for excellence in public education.

Most of the program funds are spent on time and travel to counties of the state that don't have easy access to the museums. Curriculum-enrichment materials that are being developed by OAS will be offered to all of the participating schools. State funding will enable OAS archaeologists to build relationships with local communities that should improve the effectiveness of our outreach program in years to come.

Contact

For more information on the Education Outreach Program, please contact Chuck Hannaford at 505-827-6386 or chuck.hannaford@state.nm.us.

Friends of Archaeology

The Friends of Archaeology supports the research and education outreach activities of the OAS. The Friends, part of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, organizes field trips, lectures, and other events that bring archaeologists and the public together. A calendar of upcoming events can be found at www.museumfoundation.org/foa.php.