2003
Progress Report
NKU Museum of Anthropology
Fine Tradition: New Beginnings
The year 2003 has been a period of rapid change for the NKU Museum of Anthropology (NKUMA). The founding director, Dr. James Hopgood retired after navigating the museum through thirty years of acquisition, display, and coursework. The museum has a small, high-quality collection of ethnographic material from throughout the world largely because of Dr. Hopgood’s attention during his tenure. Along similar lines, Dr. Hopgood accessioned the entire collection and reformatted the museum’s catalogue into a computerized database during the 1990s. As a result, the Museum of Anthropology is well prepared for future growth.
Budgetary cuts at the state level have tightened purse strings at Northern Kentucky University. During 2003 the Museum of Anthropology has had to justify, more than ever, its benefits to the NKU academic community. For that reason, during the fall semester of 2003 several low-cost highly active projects were started. First among these has been the initiation of a volunteer program. Volunteers are now an active part of the museum’s exhibit designs, curation processes, and educational programs. The NKUMA volunteer program offers students opportunities to work first-hand with museum materials, personnel, and anthropology faculty. We are thankful for the hours of diligent work volunteered this year. Specific projects undertaken by the NKUMA and volunteers are discussed below in the section entitled "On-going Projects."
Dr. James Hopgood, Founding Director
NKU Museum of Anthropology
Recent Acquisitions
Before retiring, Dr. Hopgood arranged the acquisition of the Haberer Collection of prehistoric groundstone tools from the California Academy of Science. The collection consists primarily of ground axes and adzes collected in several Kentucky counties prior to the 1950s. The artifacts are in very good condition, but they lack archaeological provenience information. The full-groove axe and the adze pictured to the left are both from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The tools have been accessioned into the NKUMA collection and are already being used to educate the NKU community about prehistoric technology in the region.
On-going Projects
The museum opened several temporary displays of its holdings during the fall of 2003. Two exhibits display materials on loan from Dr. MaryCarol Hopkins (pictured to the right). The Ashanti Exhibit is located on the second floor of Landrum Academic Center near the elevators. The West African Culture Exhibit is located down the hall on the second floor near the museum space. In addition, the museum is currently displaying its collection of Filipino materials collected by Dr. Barbara Thiel during the 1980s (Dr. Thiel is pictured to the lower right). Next to the Filipino Exhibit is a small display of Haitian material culture. Please check out these exhibits on the second floor of Landrum Academic Center. The museum has also designed several on-line exhibits during fall 2003; to date Northwest Coast, Filipino, Tibetan Buddhist, and Haitian materials are displayed. We will continue to add exhibits during 2004.
The NKUMA has received support from Steely Library to maintain exhibits in the library. We have two display cases on the fourth floor near the elevator. An exhibit of our Southwestern Puebloan pottery will be finished by the end of the fall semester. Along similar lines, the museum is seeking support to exhibit materials on the fifth floor of Landrum in the foreign languages department.
Dr MaryCarol Hopkins.
Dr. Barbara Thiel
Canned goods
Service
This fall the Museum of Anthropology joined forces with the Student Anthropology Association and the Alpha Kappa Delta Sociology Club for a Holiday canned food drive; roughly 1500 cans were donated to three local food pantries.
Museum space and volunteer
Curation Upgrade
Please check out photos of changes to the museum’s space in 200 Landrum Academic Center through our main museum page. The museum hopes to have minor construction done next semester. Completion of our new space is an important step towards better accessibility and active public programs. Baird Ullrey, December's Volunteer of the Month is pictured to the left in our temporary curation space.
Up Next
During 2004 the museum works toward three goals: completion of the on-line exhibits, initiation of a membership program, and public outreach to NKU classes and local schools. We hope to face these challenges using our volunteer program and by involving anthropology faculty members. The new space has been used by Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Wolverton for Anthropology coursework this semester, and we look forward to development in these areas during 2004. The NKUMA seeks as well to acquire external funding for museum exhibits and public programs.