Families in the Corinth Museum for a hands-on program
Outreach at Corinth Excavations is in full swing. Just last week, the Corinth Excavations Outreach web page went live!
But really, it all started back in November and December 2015, when Corinth Excavations began a major collaboration with The American College of Greece-PIERCE, the 85th Kindergarten of Athens, Diazoma, and Olympia Odos. Thanks to the support of Diazoma and Olympia Odos, Corinth Excavations Assistant Director Dr. Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst led the lesson plan “Asklepios and Healing in the Ancient Greek World and Today” for the 85th Kindergarten of Athens at PIERCE in Aghia Paraskevi.
Later that same day, Dr. Nektaria Glinou, a psychology teacher at PIERCE, discussed a more challenging version of the same lesson with her high school students. A few short weeks later, the kindergarteners brought their parents and high school buddies to Ancient Corinth where they gathered for a hands-on learning experience about Asklepios and healing to extend learning beyond the classroom.
Olympia Odos recently uploaded a wonderful video on YouTube documenting the collaborative project. It was also shared on the Corinth Excavations Google+ page here, and on the ASCSA Alumni/ae Association Facebook group. The video premiered at the start of the Art Days Festival at PIERCE, held April 11-13, 2016, with Ioulia and Katherine (Katie) Petrole, Steinmetz Family Foundation Museum Fellow, in attendance. This year's theme was "Water: Source of Life, Cause of War", and Ioulia was invited to the stage to make connections between water, healing, and Asklepios for an entire auditorium filled with students.
Working with PIERCE students was briefly mentioned at the 2016 AIA Annual Meeting in San Francisco in Katie’s presentation with Ioulia titled "Outreach in Ancient Corinth: Educational Enrichment in the United States and Greece". After presenting the outreach efforts and lesson plans, Corinth Excavations saw an influx of requests for outreach materials, programs, collaborations, and more.
One example was the on-site program held on March 7. Katie led an adapted version of “Asklepios and Healing in the Ancient Greek World and Today” for a group from Monmouth College. The group, led by Kris Lorenzo and Bob Simmons, included three professors, 11 college students, and four younger children between 7-10 years old.
Additionally, after the AIAs, Katie and Ioulia were invited to submit an article based on the AIA talk to the journal Public Archaeology. The article should be ready for submission by late spring/early summer 2016.
2016 Upcoming Outreach Programs and Activities
Today, April 21, Katie will lead “Peloponnesian War Propaganda: Classical Athens vs. Corinth” for a group of 24 high schoolers. The students from the private school Homo Educandus, located near the Isthmus, are in the final stages of group research projects about different periods and sites in Corinthia. Students will get to go behind the ropes into the Punic Amphora Building, see the Centaur Bath and its pebble mosaic, and then head to the museum for a hands-on lesson about the different clues artifacts found in the Punic Amphora Building hold, and how they might be clues to learning about what Corinth was really like in the Classical period.
The Community Liaison Office of the U.S. Embassy in Athens reached out to Corinth Excavations to arrange a special day full of tours and programs. On May 14, Corinth Excavations Director Guy Sanders, Ioulia, and Katie will host the families of the U.S. Embassy for a hands-on, on-site version of “Asklepios and Healing in the Ancient Greek World and Today” plus a tour and stories about the Frankish area.
On May 18, Ioulia and Katie will lead an adapted version of “Byzantine and Frankish Styles” for between 30-40 students from a school in nearby Kiato, Greece. A tour of the Frankish area during its reconstruction process will give context to many of the bowls, plates, and glass ware the students will see up close.
On June 15, Covington Latin School in Covington, Kentucky, will stop by Ancient Corinth for an informal museum program for 21 students, teachers, and adults, including their leader, ASCSA Alumna Marcie Handler.
In July, Dr. K.A. Rask, Assistant Professor of Classics at Duquesne University, has offered to collaborate with Corinth Excavations outreach. She plans to 3D scan objects from the collection, with the possibility of including some of her 3D scans in the lesson plans. This would be a great opportunity to see the objects in a whole new manner, especially for students who cannot come to Ancient Corinth.
Also in July, Nancy Antonellis will join Corinth Excavations for one week, and she will be put to work! Nancy is a high school teacher with extensive experience in distance learning. She will help improve lesson plans, outreach programming, and be able to join a special collaborative program on-site on Monday, July 25, with the Center for Culture, Athletics, and Environment of the Municipality of Corinth.
Recently, Katie was notified that her abstract titled "Object-based (Distance) Learning: Local and Global Educational Enrichment from Corinth Excavations" was accepted to the "Managing the Archaeological Heritage" session of the Annual Meeting of the European Association for Archaeologists (EAA) in Vilnius, Lithuania, from August 31-September 3, 2016. She plans attend the conference in order to continue making connections with teachers, professors, scholars, and archaeology enthusiasts that can further the scope of outreach in Ancient Corinth.
Are you curious about Corinth Excavations Outreach?
We'd love to collaborate with educators and continue getting feedback for the lesson plans. We're delighted to offer interested learners of all ages an on-site version of a lesson. Check out the Corinth Excavations Outreach page, explore the lessons, videos, and more on Corinth Excavations' Google+ page, or contact Katie at MuseumKatie@gmail.com.
