The next installation of the Arkansas Folklife Web Series is set for 1-2:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 15, and will feature Shanita Sanders, a Ph.D. candidate in the Arkansas State University Heritage Studies program. Sanders, whose background is in radio and television production and communication, recently completed an internship with the Eddie Mae Herron Center in Pocahontas assisting with an ongoing exhibit redesign. The webinar is free and open to the public, and registration is required.
Sanders and series host Lauren Willette will discuss Sanders’ recent internship experience, heritage museums and tourism sites, additional museum internships she has completed and how she has self-documented her student projects.
Willette says, “I look forward to speaking with Sanders about student internships, just in time for any students who are undertaking their own summer projects to hear some advice and best practices from someone with experience.”
Sanders’ internship was completed under the direction of Mary Clark, board member, and Pat Johnson, founder and director of the Eddie Mae Herron Center. Sanders led a project to reorganize some of the materials at the local museum and community center. The Eddie Mae Herron Center is a museum and community center dedicated to preserving the cultural and history of the African American community of Pocahontas and beyond. The center’s annual hog butchering tradition was featured in the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Questions about the 2024 Arkansas Folklife Web Series may be directed to Willette at willette@uark.edu. Arkansas Folk and Traditional Arts is a statewide program of the University of Arkansas Libraries dedicated to building cross-cultural understanding by documenting, presenting and sustaining Arkansas’ living traditional arts and cultural heritage.