Developing and Using Artifact Encounter Pedagogy in the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College

In 2000 Berea College made a deliberate decision to redevelop the use of its Appalachian artifacts collection from a public museum model to an Appalachian Studies Teaching Collection. This decision changed every aspect of managing and using the 4,000-object collection--storage practices, access policies, staffing, curatorial approach, and collections development. But perhaps the most important change was that it required the Curator to develop a pedagogy of artifact encounters to engage with the curriculum, courses, and the work of faculty. Beginning with the axiom that curricular integration of the collections is the highest priority, and facing the reality that at a small liberal arts college like Berea, this required working across the curriculum, the Curator focused on developing pedagogical tools and frameworks involving artifact encounters, rather than a focus on Appalachian content. He designed a variety of pedagogical models for integrating encounters with Appalachian Artifacts into course of all types and lengths, from 50 minutes to two hours. The Curator describes the process as "evolving from seeing myself as a museum professional to seeing myself as a college educator who uses museum methods." For fourteen years highly-structured, in-class Appalachian artifact encounters have been a part of dozens of Berea College courses sessions each year, from Appalachian Studies to General Studies, and Sociology to Child and Family Studies. This program continues to evolve. This presentation will explore the development of the pedagogy, explore key concepts, and outline several of the highly-structured, in-class models used.