Faculty and students in Team Social Studies actively collaborate with regional, national, and international museums on research projects and teaching. Recent partnerships include:
Each year two of our pre-service teachers intern at the Connecticut Historical Society to learn more about museum education. They plan and run programs for visiting students as well as develop materials using primary sources for Connecticut teachers.
The National Holocaust Centre in the UK is both a location where our students intern while living in England as well as a research partner where faculty and students study The Forever Project with virtual interactive Holocaust survivor testimony.
Both of these museums provide hands-on experiences working for our students to work with K-12 pupils while living in England.
Team social studies pre-service teachers visit Mystic Seaport every fall as part of their training to plan and run effective field experiences for their students.
Team Social Studies students and alumni collaborate with Glenn Mitoma and Human Rights Impact at the Dodd Center including co-planning and co-sponsoring various events to promote human rights education such as film screenings, teacher workshops, ECE human rights courses, and research.
Following a visit to WWII museums and historic sites in Europe, Team Social Studies pre-service teachers collaborated with staff at the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History to create an exhibit: Snow, Sand, & Strategy: How Weather and Geography Impacted World War II. See more on the exhibit here: http://ww2weathergeography.weebly.com/
Team Social Studies and the Fairfield Museum are partnering on a unique project called: “Behind the Scenes: Using Footnotes to Understand Museum Exhibits.” Lead by Dr. Marcus, the project is a collaboration between Dr. Marcus, Neag students, and museum staff to help visitors understand the decisions of museum staff when creating an exhibit. “Footnotes” are imbedded in a new history exhibit at the museum. See the footnotes website for more information.
Team Social Studies works with the USHMM to provide opportunities for Neag pre-service teachers to develop proficiency at teaching the Holocaust. This partnership includes student visits to the museum in Washington, D.C. and Neag faculty and museum staff co-planning and teaching Holocaust education workshops. Dr. Marcus is also a USHMM Faculty Fellow.
The Mark Twain House and Team Social Studies provided opportunities for students to intern with museum staff. Students created curriculum materials for new exhibits and trained to be docents.
