Summer Institute of Museum Anthropology

Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Museum collections of anthropological material are an American treasure. They engage and inspire millions of Americans through exhibits and programs, serving as an important educational resource for communicating knowledge to a wide audience. The objects: artifacts, art work, film and photography - that museums preserve also constitute an invaluable scientific record of cultural practices, past and present. They are a databank of physical and visual material that can be examined, analyzed, and reassessed again and again as questions and methods change over time. Objects document dynamic aspects of cultural behavior that are not recorded in written sources; they are one of the few ways to gain information directly from past societies that did not have writing. However, these collections are not being used to their full potential. Many interested researchers cannot effectively utilize museum collections because they lack the skills and methods to approach or evaluate this type of data, which presents distinct challenges. There are few graduate-level courses in museum-based research in the United States. Few of these programs can offer the hands-on learning that is essential for the study of collections. Students wishing to tap into the research potential of American museums either have had to study abroad or to train themselves. The result is that we are not fully capitalizing on the investment the nation has made in the assembly and maintenance of museum collections. The Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology (SIMA) was created in response to this need. Based in the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Anthropology, it is an intensive four-week residential program providing training in museum research methods. Each year it accepts 12 graduate students from across the country who show promise to contribute to development of the field of cultural anthropology through object research. It also accepts two faculty fellows who come to learn how to teach with collections at their home institution. SIMA is a rigorous program that includes a mix of formal class time, individual research work, and extensive mentoring. Support from the National Science Foundation covers student and faculty fellows participant costs and the bringing together of a specialized faculty of visiting experts with Smithsonian scholars whose time is contributed to SIMA. The Smithsonian offers its extensive collections as a laboratory for learning, giving students an opportunity for in-depth work with one of the greatest anthropological research collections in the world. Over the period of 2009 to 2017, SIMA has provided training for 103 students, 34 collection interns and 7 university professors, and engaged 18 academics as guest faculty from 66 universities and 22 states. SIMA has a solid model in place for training, and former student participants are gaining university positions where they are using SIMA as a model for their own teaching. This grant will broaden the scope of the SIMA model by (1) expanding the type of collections examined with a particular focus on film and photography, (2) expanding the methods taught to understand the range of materials encountered in collections (Ancient DNA, flora and fauna), and (3) by recruiting and training a more diverse set of students and faculty. The goal of all these activities is to create a new generation of American scholars who are able to use anthropological collections effectively in their research. These new scholars will revitalize museums as sites where knowledge is produced as well as disseminated. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.