IU Community Scholar Training Program Information

Описание: The IU Center for Rural Engagement is launching a training program to help local community scholars document and share the stories, skills, and traditions that make their communities special.
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Every community is rich with stories, skills, and traditions that shape its identity. Supported by the IU Center for Rural Engagement, the Community Scholar Training Program helps local leaders learn how to document, preserve, and share the cultural heritage that makes their communities unique.

This program introduces participants to the foundations of folklife—those everyday arts, practices, and traditions that bring meaning and connection to community life. Scholars learn to identify local cultural practices, whether rooted in ethnic, religious, occupational, or artistic traditions. Participants design their own research focus—ranging from documenting craft traditions and foodways to interviewing local farmers, musicians, artisans, or immigrant communities.

The training begins with a full day of in‑person instruction, where participants explore what folklife is and what community scholars do. They learn hands-on methods for documenting cultural practices, including conducting oral histories, recording folklife interviews, taking ethnographic photographs, and writing fieldnotes.

A second module focuses on what scholars can do with the materials they gather. Through proven models and best practices, participants plan a small personal project—such as filming a music session, mapping meaningful places, documenting a family recipe, or capturing a local craft tradition. Virtual workshops guide them through organizing, archiving, and preserving the digital files they collect.

A final in‑person training offers tools for sharing this work with the broader public. Scholars learn how to design cultural programs—such as folklife demonstrations, narrative stages, foodways presentations, concerts, exhibitions, and digital storytelling pieces. The session also introduces strategies for collaborative exhibit design and for sharing findings in print or online formats.

Throughout the program, participants receive one‑on‑one consultations to refine their projects and address challenges. The training culminates in a celebratory “show and tell” event, where scholars present short films, community maps, recipe booklets, exhibits, or other creative representations of local heritage.

By the end of the program, community scholars will have gained practical skills in fieldwork, documentation, collaboration with local tradition-bearers, and public presentation of community traditions.

If you know someone—an elder, a community leader, a cultural practitioner, or anyone passionate about local traditions—who would benefit from this experience, we invite you to nominate them. Self‑nominations are welcome. Submit your nomination through our online form with contact information and a brief statement of why they would make a great community scholar.

Join us in celebrating and preserving the traditions that make our communities vibrant. Nominate a community scholar today.