The event, held in Stabler Hall, featured artifact displays, mock excavation activities, and a guided tour of the dig site off Fair Park Boulevard. The open house, hosted as part of Arkansas Archaeology Month, drew a diverse crowd, including anthropology students, faculty members, and local residents.

鈥淚 was really surprised at how many people came,鈥� said Dr. Maureece Levin, assistant professor of anthropology and lead researcher on the project. 鈥淲e had a lot of engagement. A lot of my students were getting up and talking to visitors. We even had a site visit at 2 p.m., where people could see the excavation site firsthand.鈥�

The archaeology project began during the Fall 2023 semester as part of the Archaeological Investigations class. Students have since uncovered the foundation of the former Safeway Ice Cream Plant and recovered more than 700 artifacts, ranging from bricks and tiles to nails and glass. The project is supported by the Arkansas Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education (CHASSE).

For students like Noah Welch, an anthropology major from Cabot, the hands-on experience has been invaluable.

鈥淚鈥檝e always been interested in archaeology but actually applying it and getting to do what archaeologists do has been amazing,鈥� Welch said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e done shovel testing, and we found a large piece of tile, concrete foundation, asphalt, and nails鈥攂asically everything you鈥檇 expect at an old factory site, except the actual ice cream, which is a real shame.鈥�

The open house also highlighted the educational impact of the project beyond the university. Paige Blair, a senior anthropology student and project intern, noted how she had engaged with many different members of the community through the project.

鈥淲e had a high school student come out who was interested in archaeology and wanted to get a feel for it,鈥� Blair said. 鈥淎 father and his 10-year-old daughter also came out to dig with us, which was really special.鈥�

Rebecca Hardcastle, a double graduate in psychology and anthropology from the University of Arkansas and project intern, found the experience personally rewarding.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been so great to get back into applied anthropology,鈥� Hardcastle said. 鈥淚 even enjoy cleaning the artifacts because it鈥檚 nice to see what we鈥檝e found once the dirt is washed away.鈥�

The open house also served as an opportunity for students to develop leadership and public outreach skills. Levin emphasized the benefits for interns and volunteers.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not just learning excavation techniques,鈥� Levin said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e also gaining experience in public engagement, historical research, and artifact documentation. I鈥檝e seen them gain confidence in their archaeological skills and leadership abilities.鈥�

With more than 100 volunteer hours logged from more than 30 volunteers so far, the project is set to continue through the spring semester, with potential for further excavations in future years. Levin and her team are also working on an Ottenheimer library display and a possible permanent exhibit in the School of Human Inquiry.

For those interested in volunteering, opportunities remain open to volunteer on Sundays from 12-5 p.m. through the end of the semester.For more information about the project or to get involved, contact Dr. Maureece Levin at mlevin@ualr.edu or .

The post 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Garden Site Archaeology Project Engages Community at Open House appeared first on News.

The open house will take place from 1-3 p.m. Friday, March 14, in Stabler Hall 107. Attendees will have the chance to view historical artifacts discovered on campus from the site with expert interpretations, participate in a mock excavation, and join a guided tour of the excavation site (weather permitting).

The open house is an opportunity for students, faculty, and community members to engage with the university鈥檚 ongoing archaeology project, which aims to uncover the rich history of the land where the campus now stands.

鈥淥ur campus has a much deeper history than people know,鈥� said Dr. Maureece Levin, assistant professor of anthropology at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. 鈥淭his open house is a chance for people to see what we鈥檝e recovered, try their hand at archaeological recovery, and learn about the past through hands-on experience.鈥�

The 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Garden Site Archaeology Project began in Fall 2023, when students in the Archaeological Investigation class uncovered the foundation of the mid-20th-century Safeway Ice Cream Plant and recovered more than 400 historical artifacts.

The project, supported by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education (CHASSE), provides both students and community members with hands-on archaeological fieldwork experience.

鈥淭his event is a great way to support our interns and students as they share what they鈥檝e learned,鈥� Levin said. 鈥淲e want to invite the community to see how archaeology helps us understand the history of our own campus.鈥�

No prior experience is necessary to participate, and all are welcome to attend. For more information about the project or to get involved, contact Levin at mlevin@ualr.edu or if you would like to volunteer.

The post 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock to Host Open House for Campus Archaeology Project appeared first on News.

鈥淥ur campus has a much deeper history than people know,鈥� said Dr. Maureece Levin, assistant professor of anthropology at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. 鈥淚f you have ever been interested in what is hiding under our feet on campus and what it can tell us about the history of the land where we work and study, this is your chance to literally dig up that past.鈥�

Work on the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Garden Site Archaeological Project began during the Fall 2023 semester, when students who enrolled in the Archaeological Investigation class were able to locate the foundation of the mid-20th century Safeway Ice Cream Plant and recovered more than 400 associated historical artifacts.

Community members will have the opportunity to join Levin and her students during the 2024-25 academic year to learn about archaeology fieldwork and lab work. They will be investigating through shovel and auger testing, excavation, and associated archival research. No prior experience is necessary to volunteer.

鈥淵ou will learn how to properly study and excavate an archaeological site, how to handle artifacts, collect samples, and how archaeologists use what is in the soil to better understand the past,鈥� Levin said. 鈥淚 want everyone in the community who is interested to learn how archaeology is done. A lot of people think archaeology is a far-off science where you go to another country, but it can happen everywhere humans have been.鈥�

Levin received a one-year $14,510 grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund the community archeology project. The 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education also provided matching funds to support the project. Michelle Rathgaber, educational outreach coordinator with the Arkansas Archeological Survey, will serve as the humanities scholar on the project.

Anyone who is interested in joining the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Garden Site Archeological Project can , , or contact Levin at mlevin@ualr.edu for more information.

Levin will plan an exhibit of the artifacts found at the project site in 2025.

The post 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Starts Community Archaeology Project to Uncover Local History appeared first on News.

The exhibition, 鈥淪lavery and Freedom: Journeys Across Time and Space,鈥� will open on Friday, May 3, with a reception from 4:30-6 p.m. at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. Separated by decades and thousands of miles, the exhibition shows how Abby Guy and Furcy Madeleine used the legal system to escape slavery.

The exhibit will be on display at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Downtown through Oct. 31. People may walk in to see the exhibit from 1-4 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Visitors may also email downtown@ualr.edu to schedule an individual or group visit.

The grant鈥檚 recipients are Dr. Marta Cieslak, director of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Downtown, and Dr. Nathan Marvin, assistant professor of history and humanities scholar on 鈥淪lavery and Freedom.鈥� Emily Housdan, programming and administrative assistant at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, is also on the grant team. Marvin taught a special topics history course during the fall 2023 semester, where 11 students conducted research and developed materials that will be presented as part of the exhibit.

The inspiration for this project is an existing traveling exhibit, 鈥�,鈥� created by the Mus茅e de Vill猫le in R茅union Island, France. The exhibit explores the life of Furcy Madeleine, an enslaved man who in 1817 launched his freedom suit in the French colony of Isle Bourbon (today鈥檚 R茅union Island), a legal case that wasn鈥檛 resolved until 28 years later.

鈥淭he 鈥楽lavery and Freedom鈥� exhibit will build upon Madeleine鈥檚 story,鈥� Cieslak said. 鈥淚t will feature panels from the Furcy Madeleine original exhibit and new panels that will add a comparative context of slavery and freedom in Arkansas and the United States. This is the first time that Furcy Madeleine鈥檚 exhibit will be displayed in the United States. The Arkansas panels in the exhibit will focus on the story of Abby Guy.鈥�

Guy, who by some accounts lived as a free person until a man named William Daniel enslaved her and her children, launched her freedom suit in Arkansas in 1855. Guy v. Daniel reached the Arkansas Supreme Court twice, first in 1857 and then again in 1861.

Students in Marvin鈥檚 class learned what it takes to create a public humanities exhibit. They practiced such skills as transcribing documents, creating maps, a timeline, family trees, and text for the exhibit. They also photographed locations in southeast Arkansas important to Guy鈥檚 story. Their research contributed to the project. The team that researched, designed, and created the exhibit are Cieslak, Marvin, Housdan, and also Dr. Jess Porter, executive director of the Center for Arkansas History and Culture.

鈥淎bby Guy鈥檚 story makes this exhibit exciting from a local perspective,鈥� Marvin said. 鈥淭hey are both very well documented cases, and you really see the legal construction of race and enslavement at work through these court cases. The students loved researching the case and were very engaged in the practice of putting together content for a historical exhibit. The students produced some great work along the way.鈥�

As part of the class, students were able to examine some of the original files from the Guy v. Daniel case. The 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law Library houses some of those files, and Harry Lah, collections management librarian, and Melissa Serfass, professor of law librarianship, helped the students access the documents.

Another student who helped with the exhibition is Skylar Boone, a graphic design student from the School of Art and Design who was selected from multiple applicants to create watercolor paintings for the exhibition.

“Skylar created beautiful watercolors of the six figures central to the Guy v. Daniel case,” Cieslak said. “Her watercolors invite the audience to imagine what those six individuals looked like, and she did a terrific job.”

The exhibit explores the history and legacies of modern slavery from a comparative perspective.

鈥淲e have the story of a man from R茅union Island, and we might think that we have nothing in common with that part of the world,鈥� Cieslak said. 鈥淲hen you bring these two stories together, you see how similar they are. They are very fascinating cases, and we hope to do them justice.鈥�

The post Arkansas Humanities Grant to Fund 鈥楽lavery and Freedom鈥� Exhibit at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock appeared first on News.

The panel discussion, 鈥淐ultivating Civic Engagement Through Art: How Art Can Help Us Reflect on the Past and Engage in the Present,鈥� will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock.

The panelists include Rex DeLoney, artist and educator at Little Rock Central High School; Jose Hernandez, artist with the 7th Street Mural Project and X3Mex; Dr. James Ross, historian and professor at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock; and Jessica Taverna, art educator at Little Rock Central High School. Dr. Marta Cieslak, director of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Downtown will moderate the discussion on art, history, and civic engagement.

This panel discussion will accompany the opening of the exhibit, “Their Voices,” which will be on display through Dec. 7 at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Downtown. The exhibit features the artworks of young artists, who under the guidance of art teacher Jessica Taverna, reflected on the history of the Elaine Massacre. The question of how people can examine the past and engage in the present through art is in the center of this interdisciplinary project.

The “Their Voices” project was originally supported in part by a We The People grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as Thea Foundation.

The post 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Downtown to Hold Panel Discussion on Art and Activism appeared first on News.

Feedspot named 鈥淎rts & Letters鈥� 14th on of the 35 best social science podcasts worth listening to in 2023. Feedspot selected the top podcasts from thousands of podcasts on the web and ranked them by traffic, social media followers, domain authority, and freshness.

鈥溾�楢rts & Letters Radio鈥� is really excited to be a part of this extensive list of the best social science podcasts,鈥� said J. Bradley Minnick, executive producer and host. 鈥淭his list features podcasts from all over the world, including Australia, England, Singapore, India, Canada, and Ireland. It makes us feel proud to see Little Rock represented. We are especially proud to be recognized for history, psychology, communication, philosophy, ecology, and cultural studies content.鈥�

鈥淎rts & Letters Radio鈥� is a program celebrating contemporary arts, humanities, and social sciences, with an emphasis on authentic Southern voices. The show, now in its ninth season, is funded by the Arkansas Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from listeners.

The Arts & Letters Radio team includes Minnick, also a professor of English at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Mary Ellen Kubit, producer and story editor, Joseph Fuller, sound production, and Sam Gregory, audience engagement. Episodes feature author readings, interviews,  music, sound effects, and actors.

The program can be streamed on , NPR One, the NPR Podcast page, and on over 17 podcast platforms including iTunes, Google Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, Podbean, Player FM, and iHeart Radio. The next episode will air in June and will feature the 鈥淏ook of Extraordinary Tragedies鈥� by Joe Meno.

The post 鈥楢rts and Letters Radio鈥� Highlighted Among Top Social Science Podcasts in the World appeared first on News.

FeedSpot named 鈥淎rts & Letters鈥� in a list of the to listen to in 2023. The best NPR art podcasts were selected from thousands of podcasts on the web and ranked by traffic, social media followers, domain authority, and freshness.

Coming in at No. 12, 鈥淎rts & Letters鈥� is a program celebrating contemporary arts, humanities, and social sciences, with an emphasis on authentic Southern voices.

“Arts & Letters Radio is proud to be a part of this prestigious list of the best NPR Art podcasts selected from thousands of podcasts on the web including WHYYs ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross, PBS鈥檚 ‘American Masters: Creative Spark,’ and KJZZ鈥檚 ‘Word,鈥欌�� said J. Bradley Minnick, executive producer and host. 鈥淭hese are all terrific shows in big markets. We are really proud to be included on a national stage.鈥�

Founded in 2014, the award-winning program is broadcast on 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Public Radio and its affiliated stations. In its ninth season, the program is supported by the Arkansas Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from listeners. The landmark 100th episode aired last year, featuring writer, director, and producer Harry Thomason discussing his memoir, 鈥�.鈥�

This spring listeners can look forward to upcoming shows 鈥淢achete鈥� with Texas poet Tomas Q. Mor铆n, 鈥淭he Hospice Doctor鈥檚 Widow鈥� with Little Rock nonfiction author Jennifer O鈥橞rien, 鈥淏ook of Extraordinary Tragedies鈥� with novelist Joe Meno, and 鈥淔ire Bones鈥� featuring Arkansas poet Greg Brownderville.

The Arts & Letters Radio team includes Minnick, Mary Ellen Kubit, producer and story editor, and Joseph Fuller, sound production. Each episode also features original music, sound effects, and commentary from musicians, guests, and narrators.

Episodes can be streamed on , NPR One, the NPR Podcast page, and on over 17 podcast platforms including iTunes, Google Podcasts, Player FM, and iHeart Radio. In 2022, the program episodes had roughly 12,000 downloads with the average listener streaming three episodes.

鈥淥nce they listen, they get hooked,鈥� Minnick added.

The post 鈥楢rts & Letters鈥� Highlighted Among Top NPR Art Podcasts in the Country appeared first on News.