How does technology shape the way we build community? SINCE MARCH , we’ve almost all become experts in the technologies that support virtual connection. Whether you use Google Meet, FaceTime, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom, it’s likely that you are videoconferencing now more than ever. These platforms are influencing the way we connect with our families, at work, and as communities. And yet the question, “How does technology shape the way we build community?” is not new. In these pages, you’ll find images of artifacts and transcripts of oral histories from the Pratt Museum’s archives in Homer that show the ways the telephone influenced their community connected during the first half of the 20th century. How does that history help us better understand the technology changes we’re experiencing today? How were they able to push past the limitations of the technology of the day, and how might that inspire us now and into the future?
TAKE WING ALASKA Dig Deep and Host Your Own Conversation Are you interested in bringing these conversations to your community? www.akhf.org/kindlingconversation
KINDLING CONVERSATION
Springboards for Discussion Articles, films, images, exhibits, and texts create common ground and allow everyone to contribute.
Conversation Toolkit A facilitator guide, promotional materials, and participant surveys are ready to go.
Facilitator Training We’ll walk you through the process and materials to ensure your community event is a success.
IMMOBILE DEVICES: Homer had a cooperative telephone system as far back as 1923. In addition to this “party line,” some residents set up private systems strung up between several houses or for children to call home from the end of a long driveway. Those hand-crank telephones were “dialed” by different combinations of the length and number of rings.
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A L A S K A H U M A N I T I E S F O R U M FA L L 2020
Funding A non-competitive $200 microgrant defrays the cost of hosting.
