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The Michigan State University Museum has created a new online resource (www.folkartsineducation.org) for educators designed to bring young people in touch with their communities, their ethnic identities and the authentic cultural expressions of their own families. "Folk Arts in Education: A Resource Handbook II" is a compilation of best practices in the field of educational efforts using community-based traditional knowledge associated with a wide range of expressive arts forms. Volume editors Marsha MacDowell and LuAnne G. Kozma, folklife specialists at the MSU Museum, worked for over four years with a national team of advisors to select and secure sample curricula from over 50 exemplary programs for youth in educational settings in K-12 schools, youth-serving organizations, arts and humanities councils, museums, and cultural heritage and folk arts non-profit organizations. Programs combine direct participation and ethnographic methods using photography, video, radio, audio recordings, exhibitions, festivals, and residencies with tradition-bearers. Among the sample resources recommended by the national team of advisors are excerpts from the MSU Museum's own FOLKPATTERNS, a partnership program with Michigan 4-H.
The 260+page book is also available in hard copy form (with our without a loose-leaf binder and in a CD version. "Folk Arts in Education" was funded by a grant to Michigan State University Museum from the National Endowment for the Arts through the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.
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