AMST

On Thursday, March 26th, a group of our ECE American Studies and Maritime Studies instructors joined together at the New Britain Museum of American Art for an exciting and collaborative professional development experience! Through a variety of group activities, a guided tour of the museum, and organic conversations, instructors were asked to ponder the ways that they might integrate the exploration of art into their existing teaching strategies. How does the construction of an image reflect an artist’s social environment? How do maps reflect politics and social conditions, depicting the complex journey an individual undergoes to find a place to call home?

All in all, this was a transformative and hands-on day for all involved, and we extend our sincerest thanks to the staff at the NBMAA, as well as faculty coordinators Karon McGovern (AMST) and Matthew Cieslowski (MAST) for their efforts to create this experience! We are happy to share some photos from Thursday in this post as well.

UConn AMST & MAST courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Friday, September 27th, UConn Early College Experience hosted a professional development workshop for approximately 75 certified ECE U.S. History, Maritime Studies, and American Studies teachers, under the guidance of Professors Mary K. Bercaw Edwards (MAST), Laurie Wolfley (MAST/AMST), and Matt McKenzie (AMST/HIST) our ECE Faculty Coordinators.

The event kicked off with an illuminating discussion led by Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes, Mystic Seaport's Senior Curator of Maritime Social Histories, which focused on the origins and sources of the museum's current Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea exhibit.

Following this conversation, instructors broke into small groups and engaged in four activities across the museum. Beginning with a tour of the Charles W. Morgan, the oldest commercial ship still afloat in the US, our group then got some hands-on experience with rope-making, followed by an opportunity to observe primary sources from the Morgan's heyday at the museum library. Finally, we explored the Entwined exhibit, which centers Black and Indigenous voices and histories and their interconnectedness, and unravels dominant, white-centric narratives of maritime history in Turtle Island, or North America.

This event was a new foray into offering interdisciplinary professional development experiences for instructors, allowing them to connect with faculty and instructors from several academic disciplines.