Featured Scholars Leading the Crossroads of Historic Higley Community History Project

 

Dr. Dan Shilling Author, Guest Speaker at October 24th, 2009 CHH Open House

While Curator for the Humanities at Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, Arizona, Dan Shilling authored the federally-funded publication Civic Tourism: The Poetry and Politics of Place ( Sharlot Hall Museum Press, 2007). The mission behind Civic Tourism is to promote a re-framing of tourism that can help the public preserve and enhance what they love about their place while revitalizing the local economy. Civic Tourism encourages participants to re-think economics, connect to the public and to invest in the story of our cultural heritage. To find out more about Civic Tourism and the community's role in preserving historic assets as part of sustainable place-making, visit www.civictourism.org Dr. Shilling is a recognized leader in Arizona's research on heritage tourism. The former director of the Arizona Humanities Council, Dan has received numerous awards for his work in community development, including the Arizona Office of Tourism "Person of the Year" Award. As the founder of the Community Heritage Group, he regularly writes and speaks about community building, civil society, and heritage tourism. He recently co-directed the 2009 Aldo Leopold Summer Institute at ASU Institute for Humanities Research celebrating A Fierce Green Fire at 100: Aldo Leopold and the Roots of Environmental Ethics. Dan is currently working on a book on sustainable community development.

 

Dr. Kim Chuppa-Cornell – Chandler-Gilbert Community College Faculty, Oral History Scholar for CHH

Dr. Kim Chuppa-Cornell is faculty at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC). Her studies in U.S. women's history led her to value oral history as an  important methodology for gathering the stories of people often left out of the official historical record. She has been conducting oral history projects since 1995, many involving college students as the interviewers. Dr. Chuppa-Cornell's current project is gathering stories from Bracero workers, workers' families, and others who participated in or had experiences with the Bracero Worker Program/El Programa Bracero. These oral histories will be included in an upcoming traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution, which will be on display in the CGCC Library in Spring 2011. Click here to read the press release regarding the current oral history project. For additional information, visit CGCC’s Community History Project website or call 480.732.7022