An Experiential, Place-Based Curriculum for Historic Preservation and Humanities-Centered Land Use

FAIN: AKB-270212-20

Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN 37203-2416)
Holly Tucker (Project Director: September 2019 to November 2024)
Steven Arlyn Wernke (Co Project Director: March 2020 to November 2024)
Elizabeth S. Meadows (Co Project Director: March 2020 to November 2024)
Matthew Worsnick (Co Project Director: June 2022 to November 2024)

A two-year interdisciplinary curricular project to implement an experiential place-based curriculum in the applied humanities, including historic preservation and human-centered land use.

We propose a two-semester, experiential undergraduate curriculum designed to introduce students to a wide range of careers in applied Humanities. Using Vanderbilt University’s historic Vaughn Home (1875) as a “lab,” students will gain hands-on experience with archival and archeological research, historic reservation, museum curation, human-centered land use and design, digital humanities, and public affairs. This proposal is submitted jointly by faculty in Anthropology, Engineering, Managerial Studies, English, and History in full partnership with administrative staff from the Division of Administration, the Division of Communications, University Archives/Special Collections, the Center for Digital Humanities, and the Center for Teaching at Vanderbilt University.

Media Coverage

Storied Vanderbilt campus home becomes living history lab and exhibit (Media Coverage)
Publication: Vanerbilt University
Date: 3/14/2024
Abstract: The 1870s home of Professor William J. Vaughn, Vanderbilt University’s original librarian and one of its first faculty members, carries history—and some mystery—about early Vanderbilt chancellors, faculty, women’s athletics, campus politics and more. Now, with the culmination of a three-year trans-institutional project supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vaughn home has inspired an extensive exhibit and 19 interdisciplinary courses involving eight faculty and more than 230 students.
URL: https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2023/10/31/watch-storied-vanderbilt-campus-home-becomes-living-history-lab-and-exhibit/