Mode of Program Participation
Performances and Arts
Participation Type
Poster
Presentation #1 Title
Scrolling through history: A moving panoramic shadow box theater as Foxfire interpretative mo
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
For their 2016 Appalachian Teaching Project (ATP), students in the Appalachian Studies Minor at the University of North Georgia wanted to help The Foxfire Museum to increase its interpretive capacity to reach a new generation, both in Rabun County, Georgia and beyond. As the central focus, students located transcripts from early Foxfire’s interviews about agricultural traditions, e.g. planting by the signs. Then, they wrote a script, created and digitized a crankie – a moving panoramic shadow box theater. This 19th century entertainment medium, which is making a comeback in Appalachian performance realms, features a long illustrated scroll wound onto two spools that are loaded into a box with a viewing screen. The scroll is hand-cranked while the story is told. The crankie, which will be given to The Foxfire Museum after ATP ends, will serve as an innovative model that high school students, alumni and volunteers can use to present many of the other subject headings in the museum’s voluminous collection of archival materials. This poster session will feature scenes and stories from the crankie as well as the narrative inquiry methodology that accompanied its construction.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Rosann Kent is the director of Appalachian Studies at the University of North Georgia and coordinates its signature initiative, Saving Appalachian Gardens and Stories. She received an MA in Reading with an emphasis in Storytelling from East Tennessee State University.
Sommer Coen is a senior majoring in Studio Arts and minoring in Appalachian Studies at the University of North Georgia. She is a member of the Society for Collegiate Leadership and Achievement, a national honor society.
Scrolling through history: A moving panoramic shadow box theater as Foxfire interpretative mo
For their 2016 Appalachian Teaching Project (ATP), students in the Appalachian Studies Minor at the University of North Georgia wanted to help The Foxfire Museum to increase its interpretive capacity to reach a new generation, both in Rabun County, Georgia and beyond. As the central focus, students located transcripts from early Foxfire’s interviews about agricultural traditions, e.g. planting by the signs. Then, they wrote a script, created and digitized a crankie – a moving panoramic shadow box theater. This 19th century entertainment medium, which is making a comeback in Appalachian performance realms, features a long illustrated scroll wound onto two spools that are loaded into a box with a viewing screen. The scroll is hand-cranked while the story is told. The crankie, which will be given to The Foxfire Museum after ATP ends, will serve as an innovative model that high school students, alumni and volunteers can use to present many of the other subject headings in the museum’s voluminous collection of archival materials. This poster session will feature scenes and stories from the crankie as well as the narrative inquiry methodology that accompanied its construction.
