Addressing Issues of Audience, Accessibility and Appreciation with Ohio State’s Andean and Amazonian Cultural Artifact Collection
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Date
2018-12
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
In this thesis I explore how everyday digital technology that is accessible and familiar to students, such as smartphones, can be an entry point into cultural appreciation, and how beyond audience engagement, digital mediums can also be conducive to a different approach to learning. Three major points guide my research inquiry: 1). how to understand the interests and attention of the general audience, 2). how to identify and effectively use interactive technology that engages a new generation of students, while 3). also providing content depth that can lead to an overall sense of audience appreciation and broader cultural insight. My research stems from my work as student curator of Ohio State’s Andean and Amazonian Cultural Artifact Collection.
Ohio State’s Andean and Amazonian Cultural Artifact Collection was acquired by the Center for Latin American Studies in Autumn of 2015 through a series of donations and purchases supported by Title VI Federal Funds. The collection supports curriculum and programming on the Andes and Amazonia connected to the Quechua Language Program and the Andean and Amazonian Studies Minor at The Ohio State University. The collection revolves around the ways indigenous communities maintain storytelling, cultural production and oral traditions.
My research approach has relied on applied methods: curating the exhibit, delivering talks and exhibit tours, co-teaching classroom workshops on Andean and Amazonian material culture with my mentor, Dr. Michelle Wibbelsman, and collaborating with various departments on campus to gain technical skills and ultimately develop SoundCloud recordings, 3D digital models, and a digital storytelling map. Each step of the way, I have considered how the interactive digital features allow students to access information that communicates key concepts and/or aesthetics of Andean and Amazonian culture. This has required targeted reading on Andean and Amazonian cultures and Museum Studies. I have also collected audience feedback from exhibit tours, classroom interventions and open houses.
My efforts have focused on ensuring ease of accessibility by way of QR codes that students scan with their smartphones using popular apps like Snapchat or the camera feature. The question that motivated me was whether familiar technology and frequent use of devices perhaps had the potential to bring Andean and Amazonian culture into the realm of the familiar by association. Preliminary observations indicate that use of this interactive tech resulted in longer and more focused attention on items in the collection. At minimum, this allocation of time indicates sustained audience engagement. Beyond that, it possibly suggests deeper audience appreciation and understanding of the artifacts. These observations provide a foothold for conceiving of and creating dynamic new learning environments for audiences of all ages and levels of expertise.
While my work with the collection has been more about production and implementation of exhibit features, in this thesis I present information on audience feedback I collected and analyzed to address questions of effectiveness, audience appreciation, and understanding. These research insights can, in turn, help to adapt existing exhibit features for better effectiveness, or inform development of new ones.
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Keywords
Andes, Amazon, Accessibility, Audience, Appreciation, Curator