Your On-Campus Field Trip Destination Course Catalog 2021 – 2022
Learning opportunities for Phillips Academy faculty and students
A MESSAGE FROM OUR EDUCATORS You may be surprised by what the Peabody Institute can offer students and faculty at Phillips Academy. We have programs based on archaeology, anthropology, and Native American history to support what you are already teaching in your classrooms. Our programs, which make use of material from our collection of more than 600,000 archaeological artifacts, are designed to pique students’ interests by offering them an educational experience that cannot be found at any other secondary school in the United States. Given our current and unforseen circumstances, the Peabody staff are happy to offer online versions of some of our programs. We hope to better support your objectives and curriculum through our available digital resources. If you have any questions or would like your class to visit the Peabody to take part in one of our programs, please contact the Institute’s educators: Lindsay Randall lrandall@andover.edu or ext. 4496 Ryan Wheeler rwheeler@andover.edu or ext. 4493
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Art 4
Biology 6 Classics 7 English 7 History 100 8 History 200 12 History 300 14 Mathematics 17 Music 18 Computer Science 18 Physics 19 World Language 20
Digital Resources
21
Dig Deeper Into the Peabody
Back Cover
ART
Visible Differences
Students will learn that an image is a complex cultural productions that are laden with multiple meanings and open to various interpretations. During the class, students will compare and contrast two images from the Peabody’s collection. One image is of a native leader and was painted by a white male artist and the other is a pencil drawing done by Jaw His Fight, a member of the Sioux tribe. The differences in how a culture depicts itself and how others depict them – and the meaning behind that – will be highlighted.
American Indian Pottery
Intricate designs, a variety of decorative techniques, and fluid, naturalistic shapes are presented to students during an informal survey of the Peabody’s collection of ancient and contemporary American Indian pottery. Highlights include our distinctive Late Woodland vessels of the Southeast and our extensive collection of southwestern pottery, including pieces by acclaimed Pueblo potter Maria Martinez.
Course Catalog
2021-2022 4 Course Catalog 2019-2020
ART
Weft-Over Methods
Students work with the Peabody’s extensive collection of Guatemalan textiles to understand and appreciate traditional weaving techniques and the cultural implications of personal adornment.
ARTIFACTS: Indigenous Art on Its Own Terms
Students will work together to examine artifacts from the Peabody’s collections to better understand how indigenous works of art are expressions of cultural values and philosophy of life. They will better understand that western notions of art are not always applicable –and cannot or should not be imposed – on an object of another culture. They will understand that all native people in the Americas had a deep and vibrant artistic heritage prior to the arrival of Europeans.
Silent Voices
Clothing is a readily observed form of nonverbal communication that exists in all cultures. Students will work in groups and attempt to translate the silent language communicated by Guatemalan textiles in the Peabody’s collections.
Course Catalog
Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
5
BIOLOGY Phillips Academy’s Great Auk The great auk (Pinguinus impennis) was a flightless bird of the alcid family that became extinct in the mid-19th century. The Peabody’s specimen, donated by Thomas Cochran in the 1930s, is one of only 79 skin mounts in existence today. Students become acquainted with the natural history of the great auk and the factors leading to its extinction. A sampling of other avian artifacts from the Peabody may be included in this course in order to highlight the long and varied relationship between humans and birds.
Human Osteology & Forensics
Students employ contemporary techniques of forensic anthropology in their exploration of an ethically-sourced human skeleton cast. Highlights of the human skeleton—including biological sex, age at death, and health and trauma are presented—with a special focus on the problematic identification of race from the human skeleton. Students will get hands on experience with the human skeleton and understand that forensic techniques are both useful and problematic. This program is also available as an online lesson.
Hominin Cranial Evolution
Can you tell the difference between the skulls of an ape, Neanderthal, and Homo sapiens? This interactive lab gives students the opportunity to explore, handle, compare, and contrast 14 skull casts from apes and hominids spanning the famous, 3.2-million-year-old “Lucy” to modern humans. Students learn about cranial capacity, the evolution of the human body and brain, sexual dimorphism, and which features of each skull are unique to its particular species. This program is also available as an online lesson. Course Catalog 2021-2022
6 Course Catalog 2019-2020
CLASSICS Roman Pottery: Curate Your Own Exhibit
Students are challenged to research a collection of Roman pottery using online and library resources. During their research, students encounter Latin words and phrases that they incorporate into their final exhibit text. The result is an exhibit curated by students and based on their findings, including details of Roman culture and history.
ENGLISH Anthropology of Gender
Many cultures recognize three or more genders—a stark contrast to modern binary Western views that closely link sex and gender. In this lesson, students explore the Native American concept of “two-spirit people,” or people who are seen as having both male and female spirits within them, through the life of 19th-century two-spirit Zuni We’wha, providing a context for assessing broader theories of gender cross-culturally.
Course Catalog
2021-2022 Course Catalog 2019-2020
7
ALL HISTORY CLASSES Indigenous North Shore The objective of this lesson is to have students understand and grapple with the complexities of making definitive determinations as to which native groups lived on the North Shore, and thus the complexities of understanding borders. This will be done through the crafting of a land acknowledgment, as a central part of such a statement is naming the tribes of located on the North Shore. It will also highlight for students that the issues and ambiguity of borders is not a problem of “others” but one found in their own local community.
HISTORY 100 Un-BELIZE-able Achievements
The ancient Maya were a complex society who had advanced knowledge of mathematics, calendrics, astronomy, and engineering. Their understanding of the world rivaled that of contemporary civilizations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. In this lesson, students engage in a variety of activities to better understand the complexity of the Maya by learning how to write their name, calculate their birthday, solve math problems, and so much more! This class also has extension activities for double periods. This program is also available as an online lesson.
Course Catalog
8 Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
HISTORY 100 Blubber: It’s What’s for Dinner!
Similarly to the Bedouin and Mongol people, effective use of natural resources has allowed the Inuit to thrive in the hostile environments of the Arctic and Subarctic. Working in groups, students examine Inuit artifacts to determine what the objects are, how they were used, and from what material they were made.
Maps and Dreams European and Native American concepts of geography and land tenure are highly disparate, setting the stage for misunderstandings during the Contact Period in the 17th century. Students learn to read two very different maps—one European and one Native American––looking for similarities and differences that are manifest in material culture, and the consequences of these differences when these two very different cultures meet.
Trash Talks! The unusable or unwanted remnants of everyday life end up in the garbage. By studying what people have thrown away, archaeologists can learn a great deal about a culture. This is true not only of prehistoric individuals and societies who left no written record about their lives, but people living today.
Course Catalog
Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
9
HISTORY 100 Trebuchet String Theory: When Worlds Collide
The trebuchet, a catapult-like Students learn how the exchange ofmachine plants, used to hurl massive projectiles, of the animals, and diseases impacted was both one the Old and New worlds. Through the use of numerous most commonly used siege weapons during color-coded strings and labels, which are strung the Middle Ages. Students are introduced to across the room, students also begin to the history of the trebuchet and how it was visually understand how a majority of the employed, and they use the museum’s two exchanges occurred disproportionally and how replica trebuchets they affect us today. to launch projectiles at a target. Working in teams, students change variables on the trebuchet to optimize its range and accuracy.
You’ve Got Mail!
Modern fiction often omits the complex nature of combat in the Middle Ages and how difficult it was to wage. Students explore the evolution of different styles of medieval armor by handling reproduction chain mail, gauntlets, a helmet, a crossbow, mace, a halberd, and a broadsword. The lesson concludes with a “Siege Shootout” in which students use miniature replica crossbows to shoot foam projectiles at cardboard knights.
Course Catalog
10 Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
HISTORY 100 Trade Connections
For three days students come to the Peabody Institute to investigate how trade connected a variety of cultures from all over the Americas. Through this week long “dip” students engage in activities that foster their critical thinking, communication, and collaboration competency in a creative and interactive manner. Can be condensed into two days.
Day One
Using a mock excavation of a local archaeological site, one that highlights Andover’s historical status as a Native American trading center, students will rotate throughout the various excavation units examining the material culture to determine what activity was taking place as well as what type of a settlement it was.
Day Two
Continuing to work in groups, students will rotate between stations examining objects from the Hopewell, Pueblo, Maya, and Moche cultures. They will be asked to think about materials/functions/ ideas/etc. related to the objects. The class will conclude with a sorting activity of the objects they had examined in class.
Day Three
The week concludes with investigating a map showing the trade and exchange connections between the four cultural groups. There will be a discussion about how looking at various groupings can help further archaeological investigations.
Course Catalog
Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
11
HISTORY 200 Cultures in Contact
In this historical simulation, students are introduced to some of the issues and conflicts that created and fostered tensions between English colonists and Native Americans in New England during the 17th century. Students explore differences in how Puritans and Native Americans viewed land ownership, religion, and gender roles, and they participate in a scenario that is an important part of the history of Andover and is depicted on the town seal.
AlterNATIVE Uses Students use two adze-like tools, one made of stone and the other of metal, to learn how to read material culture as text. By thoroughly investigating the objects, they learn the complex story of the fur trade and the relationship between Native Americans and Europeans in New England.
Pueblo Revolt
In 1680, Ohkay Owingeh leader Po’Pay united people from diverse Pueblo communities and led a bloody revolt to drive the Spanish colonizers from New Mexico. This lesson explores the history and archaeology of the Pueblo Revolt through artifacts from the Peabody Institute and concepts like acculturation, assimilation, syncretism, and catachresis. The lesson emphasizes that Pueblo people have survived Spanish and American colonization and thrive today in their ancient homeland. This program is also available as an online lesson.
Course Catalog
12 2021-2022 Course Catalog 2019-2020
HISTORY 200 “The little Spots allow’d them”: Landscapes and Slavery in New England
In Colonial New England, enslaved men and women were able to utilize the architecture and landscapes that their owners had built in order to create a space for themselves that was free from constant surveillance. In this unit, students explore how landscapes can shape human behavior. A hands-on project using archaeological data from Isaac Royall’s Ten Hills Farm in Medford, Mass., illustrates the concept.
The Taíno: The People Who Discovered Columbus
The Taíno are an Indigenous group in the Caribbean, historically situated in Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and neighboring islands. Today’s Taíno people have preserved their language, foodways, and traditional practices, with groups in Puerto Rico and parts of the continental United States. When Columbus landed in Hispaniola the Taíno population was perhaps in the millions and early records estimate that 85 percent of the population had been lost within a few decades. Archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians still debate the existence of modern Taíno, despite DNA evidence and the persistence of cultural patterns. This lesson introduces students to Taíno history, language, and archaeology, including hands on time with the Peabody’s collection of Taíno material culture. Course Catalog
Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
13
HISTORY 300 A World of Difference
Students explore objects from the Peabody Institute’s collection in order to increase their awareness of Native American diversity - prior to European arrival - by investigating how the influence of environments is reflected in the life ways and material culture of different tribes. This program is also available as an online lesson.
Identity By Design
Students will explore objects from the Peabody Institute’s collection to understand Plains peoples’ long standing close connection to their surroundings and natural resources. Through the lens of one aspect of life – clothing – the impact that Westward Expansion had on tribes will be more clearly defined.
The Twines That Bind Us Students examine a single object – a ball of string – to understand the lasting effect of vulnerability that the Great Depression left on those who lived through the turmoil and uncertainty, regardless of race, class, etc. This program is also available as an online lesson.
Course Catalog
14 Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
HISTORY 300 The Trail Where They Cried
The forced removal of the Cherokee people from their ancestral land profoundly affected their society, and choices made by various individuals, both tribal and non-tribal, had a significant impact on the experiences of specific groups of the Cherokee tribe – an impact that the Cherokee people still feel today. Through the use of a “Choose Your Own Adventure” activity, students begin to understand the complex nature of this traumatic event. This program is also available as an online lesson.
Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) The passage of the Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990 marked a turning point for archaeologists, museums, and Native peoples. The law requires museums to consult with appropriate tribes and repatriate ancestral remains, funerary objects, and other sacred objects. Specific examples, often involving the Peabody, will be discussed. Students in History 300 will discover how modern Native peoples are working to undo colonial practices and heal the considerable wounds caused by loss of ancestral remains and sacred objects. Students should read NAGPRA Comics: Journeys to Complete the Work online before visiting the Peabody: https://nagpracomics.weebly.com/ the-comics.html
Course Catalog
Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
15
HISTORY 300 MYTH Conceptions Explores how museums, such as the RS Peabody Institute, are extensions of the concept of Manifest Destiny. Students learn about the historical stealing of artifacts through the Peabody’s work to repatriate community artifacts and human remains to White Earth Nation, the community to which they belong. This program is also available as an online lesson.
Missing the Meaning Students will understand how at the heart of Native protests are issues about tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, and meaningful intergovernmental consultation as well as how the erasure and ignorance of Native American-US relationships within the broader public perpetuates misconceptions about the true nature of these protests by examining two protest signs to better understand their context. This program is also available as an online lesson.
Course Catalog
16 Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
MATH Trigonometry
Students apply their theoretical knowledge of sines, cosines, and tangents to a practical problem: can they use trigonometry and old maps to reconstruct the location of Samuel Phillips’s Mansion House? The Phillips Academy founder built the house in the 1780s, but it burned down in 1887. Each phase of the project adds complexity, beginning with only a tape and then expanding to include a simple surveying instrument. At the end of the project, the students, working in small groups, compare their maps and discuss how they surmounted challenges. (Requires at least three periods)
Statistics Working with museum staff, students use statistics to investigate aspects of the Peabody’s collections in a hands-on manner, and then create a poster based on their work. Past topics include the use of ceramic sherds to test the validity of southwestern ceramic chronology. Faculty may select topics in conjunction with museum staff. (Multiday or long-term project)
Radiocarbon Dating
Students join an experiment already in progress. Each station has a funnel with a block of ice suspended above a beaker. Students are challenged to plot volume against time to predict the zero point when the experiment was begun. The resultant plot is the foundation for a discussion of isotopic decay, the basis of carbon-14 dating.
Course Catalog
Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
17
MUSIC Instrumental Understanding
Exclusively studying Western music in the classroom limits student musical knowledge and appreciation. Studying native music can help students identify how music relates to human life and understand the inseparability of music and culture. Students must be challenged to think globally in order to enhance self-awareness and understand and appreciate different cultural and social philosophies and ideas. In this class students will examine Native American musical instruments to better understand how music is shaped by its cultural context.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Iteration and Symbolic Encodings
Clothing is a readily observed form of nonverbal communication in all cultures. Students will work in groups and attempt to translate the silent language communicated by Guatemalan textiles in the Peabody’s collections. They then work to find loops and determine parameters for a variety of designs.
Course Catalog
18 Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
PHYSICS The Atlatl: An Ancient Hunting and Warfare Device The atlatl, a device for throwing long, slender darts, was one of the most important technological inventions of Ice Age people. Used across the globe, it was the primary weapon employed for hunting and warfare in the Americas until it was replaced by the bow and arrow. Because it acts as a handheld catapult, an atlatl greatly magnifies the force with which one can propel a dart for hunting. In this lesson, students use modern atlatls in a safe and controlled environment, practicing both long-distance throwing and accuracy.
Trebuchet The trebuchet, a catapult-like machine used to hurl massive projectiles, was one of the most commonly used siege weapons during the Middle Ages. Students are introduced to the history of the trebuchet and how it was employed, and they use the museum’s two replica trebuchets to launch projectiles at a target. Working in teams, students change variables on the trebuchet to optimize its range and accuracy.
Building Blocks and Equinox: Archaeoastronomy of the Ancient World Ancient civilizations around the world had sophisticated knowledge of the movements of celestial bodies and were able to expertly mark important calendar days by building structures to create alignments. Students use modeling clay to create structures that mark significant solar events, such as the Summer Solstice, and learn basic concepts of archaeoastronomy and problem-solving skills. Course Catalog
Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
19
WORLD LANGUAGE
Mexican Day of the Dead: El Dia de los Muertos Students delve into the popular and fun-filled Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. The pre-Columbus roots of the holiday are explored, along with Spanish and Catholic influences. In October and November, a large altar featuring modern Mexican crafts will be on display and samples of traditional Mexican drinks and/or candies will be available. This unit is best utilized during an extended period, but it is possible to complete in 45 minutes.
Upper Paleolithic Quiz Students learn about the Peabody’s collection of Upper Paleolithic artifacts from France, including collections acquired in the 1920s from Louis Didon. A quiz-game format allows students to test their knowledge of French as they solve riddles involving real Paleolithic artifacts, some more than 200,000 years old. Prior to class, students may peruse electronic copies of vintage correspondence regarding the collection, as well as a brief biography of Didon in French.
Course Catalog
20 Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
DIGITAL RESOURCES Diggin’ In Digital Lecture Series This series show cases live presentations with archaeologists from across the United States who will take questions directly from you! Different topics will be covered during each 30 min. episode, which start live at 1:30 pm (EST) every other Wednesday and then will be posted to YouTube afterwards. Sign up through our registration site to recieve a link to each talk.
Peabody YouTube Channel The Peabody YouTube Channel shares educational content and craft activities through outreach videos for audiences at home. Explore our “ProCRAFTinate with the Peabody!” videos, recorded “Diggin’ In” lectures, and more on our YouTube channel.
Peabody Blog The Peabody blog introduces readers to the exciting and emerging topics of archaeology and anthropology, through the activities and collections of the Peabody, written by Peabody staff.
Peabody Online Collection Catalog The Robert S. Peabody Institute curates artifacts, documents, and images pertaining to indigenous cultures of the Americas, past and present. Our online collection catalog is actively growing and new records are added regularly. We encourage you to explore our site and return often.
Peabody Newsletter The Peabody newsletter is distributed monthly by email, sharing blogs written by Peabody staff, updates on Peabody activities and events, and archaeological news from around the world. To recieve Peabody newsletters, please subscribe here.
Course Catalog
Course Catalog 2019-2020 2021-2022
21
DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE PEABODY Massachusetts Archaeological Society Talks Join us every third Tuesday of the month at 7pm from September to May for monthly presentations by leading History and Archaeology experts. These presentations will remain virtual via Zoom until a later date and a recording of each talk will be posted on the Peabody’s Facebook page. Please email info.nechapter@massarchaeology.org to sign up.
Work Duty One of our premier programs where students work in all aspects of museology from cataloging collections to curating their own exhibits. Students interested in work duty or separate volunteer work with the Peabody may contact Peabody Collection Assistant, John Bergman-McCool by email. Email: jbergmanmccool@andover.edu
Independent Projects Students are encouraged to use the collections and staff expertise in Abbot Independent Scholars research.
Behind the Scenes Tours View our hidden treasures with a guided behind-the-scenes tour. Call or email Peabody Administrative Assistant, Emma Lavoie, to schedule an appointment. Phone: (978) 749-4490 Email: elavoie@andover.edu
22 Course Catalog 2019-2020
