Primary+Sources+-+Using+Art+to+Access+Information

April 21, 2012 9:30am - 3:30pm
 * Primary Sources - Using Art to Access Information**

Historians of diverse disciplines rely on primary sources to reconstruct and interpret past events. We often think of primary sources as written documents, but indeed artworks are also windows into the material, social, economic, and political culture of particular communities and time periods. In fact, works of art and other visual documents are used in Document Based Question portions of AP exams. In this fascinating workshop we will explore the special nature of works of art as artifacts, or original documents. Working directly in the galleries with the museum’s collection, participants will develop concrete lesson ideas on how to use art as a springboard to awaken students’ curiosity, sharpen their analytical skills, and stimulate research in a wide range of disciplines including history, science, social studies, and the humanities.

Above left to right: Educators pin their mind maps to the bulletin board. Educators identify connects between mind maps with string. Dr. Story guides the group in examining //Civil War Regalia of Major Levi Gheen McCauley// as a primary source.


 * Agenda:**

Margaret Storey, Ph.D.
 * Guest speaker:**
 * [[image:love's_melancholy.jpg width="209" height="306"]] || [[image:regalia.jpg width="244" height="306"]] ||
 * Love's Melancholy || Civil War Regalia of Major Levi Gheen McCauley, 1887 ||

Front page: Directions
 * Opening activity: Primary Source Web Handout**


 * [[file:pistol.pdf]] || [[file:head.pdf]] || [[file:triptych.pdf]] || [[file:cross.pdf]] || [[file:armor.pdf]] ||
 * [[file:reliquary casket.pdf]] || [[file:jug.pdf]] || [[file:collar.pdf]] || [[file:roundel with monogram.pdf]] || [[file:coffer.pdf]] ||
 * [[file:virgin in glory.pdf]] ||  ||   ||   ||   ||

To create your own web, open this PowerPoint file, double click the image, select picture, and click on choose picture to insert an image of your choice. You can also replace the text on the bubble by selecting the existing text and typing your own.

Activities and strategies for using art works as a primary sources will be modeled using the following artworks from The Art Institute of Chicago's collection:
 * Gallery Activities:**
 * [[image:sampler.jpg width="268" height="325"]] || [[image:5295_1164143.jpg width="260" height="322"]] || [[image:161031_1220769.jpg]] ||
 * "Sampler" by Clarissa Emerson (1822/3) [|Fabric of a New Nation: American Needlework and Textiles, 1776–1840] || "Head of Xilonen, the Goddess of Young Maize" A.D. 1400/1500 Aztec from Tenochtitlan, Mexico || "Untitled" by Felix Gonzales-Torres (1989–present) American, born Cuba, (1957-1996) ||
 * **Observe & Infer Handout**

||  || **Text and discussion prompts for "Untitled"** || Above left to right: Participating educators work together on developing curriculum which uses art as a primary source. Educators discuss the personal and historical events described in //Untitled//. Educators infer information about the life of Clarissa Emerson from her //Sampler// in the galleries.

[|The Civil War In Art] [|Eastern Illinois University - Teaching with Primary Sources] [|Educator Resource Finder] The Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges & Universities - Teaching with Primary Sources [|Library of Congress - Classroom Materials] [|Library of Congress - Using Primary Sources] [|National Archives - Activities with Primary Source Documents] [|National Archives - Getting Started with Primary Sources in the Classroom] [|Oh Freedom!] [|Photography] [|Prints & Drawings] [|The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries] [|Smithsonian Source - Teaching with Primary Sources] [|Yale University - Primary Sources]
 * References & Resources:**