Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Spurlock Museum [PAGE 24]

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EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES

The Museum offers a wide range of educational programs for the campus and community. As a teaching museum, it hires and trains dozens of students each year. Some receive class credit for their experiences through the Museum's independent study and practicum opportunities. Staff members are frequent guest lecturers in University classes. To extend its resources to area communities, the staff present numerous programs annually throughout central Illinois. Topics range from oral traditions and Japanese poetry to medieval craftspeople. Fifteen new classroom outreach programs, two continuing education classes, and an informational slide show were created and presented to more than 15,000 people while the Museum was still under construction. In addition, the Museum frequently partners with other University departments, area museums, and local arts providers to present programs, exhibits, and services to audiences of all ages and interests. Via the Web, scholars from around the world receive information on the Museum's artifacts and students download information from online educational modules. Two of these Web-based programs enable students to experience museum work firsthand. All of the educational experiences offered by the Museum are enriched by the contributions of volunteers. They may be found throughout the Museum: staffing the information desk, creating and presenting programs, installing exhibit artifacts, conducting research, and entering information into the Museum's databases.