With the goal of enhancing people’s understanding of natural and cultural history, the CSMNH develops and coordinates engaging learning opportunities that showcase research, scholarship, and creativity to various internal and external audiences. Our programs and events include: field-learning activities, workshops, lectures, and community outreach events.
Field-Learning Activities
Field-learning activities: Participants make field observations, test ideas, and use tools they may otherwise not have access to. Past field-learning activities include shoe-box archaeology digs, animal tracking tours, and bird walks.
Upcoming field-learning activities:
Archaeology Field School for Adults with the Office of State Archaeology
Workshops
Workshops: Museum workshops led by local experts offer hands-on learning activities to small groups of participants. Past workshops have focused on scientific illustration techniques and basic field archaeology methods and best practices.
Upcoming workshops:
There are currently no workshops scheduled.
Lectures
Lectures: Experts from diverse backgrounds, many recognized as leaders in their fields, share their knowledge with the public. Speakers explore contemporary issues and reveal ancient mysteries on varied topics. Recent past lectures have focused on taking local action to address climate change, the pre-agricultural origins of the UConn campus, and the story of Darwin’s fascination with orchids. In addition, the CSMNH co-sponsors the Edwin Way Teale Lecture Series, which brings leading scholars from around the world to UConn to present public lectures on nature and the environment six times each year.
Upcoming lectures:
There are currently no lectures scheduled.
Community Outreach & Special Events
Community outreach events: These events involve the broader Connecticut community and help create awareness of and foster involvement in the CSMNH, emphasizing unique educational opportunities for the public at-large. Past community outreach events where the CSMNH has participated include the Connecticut Archaeology Fair, Willimantic's 3rd Thursday, Celebrate Mansfield Festival, UConn Extension’s Bug Week, and The Last Green Valley's Walktober.
Upcoming community outreach events:
Look for the Museum at Willimantic's 3rd Thursday Street Festival! You'll find us at Frog #188 in the Midtown section of Main Street with family-friendly activities in June and July.
If you require an accommodation to attend any of our events, please contact the CSMNH at 860-486-4460 or CSMNHInfo@uconn.edu at least 5 days before the event.
Upcoming Events
SPECIAL EVENT
Shark Day: Beyond Jaws!
Saturday, 27 July 2024
1pm-5pm
Gant Science Complex Light Court, UConn Storrs
Join the CSMNH and friends to experience the remarkable diversity of sharks and their relatives!
The Museum is celebrating Shark Week with our very own exploration of sharks and rays, members of the group of cartilaginous fish known as elasmobranchs!
- Learn about the world’s biggest shark, the world’s smallest shark, and some of the world’s weirdest sharks
- Touch real shark skin and see real preserved shark and ray jaws
- Be a shark detective to uncover little known animal facts and win a fossil shark tooth
- Learn how sharks hunt for prey using special grasping, crushing, and tearing teeth
*** FREE and open to the public ***
Visit our Parking page for information about parking on the UConn Storrs campus.
If you require an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact the CSMNH at 860-486-4460 or CSMNHinfo@uconn.edu by Monday, July 22, 2024.
FIELD SCHOOL
12-16 August 2024
Archaeology Field School for Adults with the Office of State Archaeology
The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, the Office of State Archaeology (OSA), and the Friends of the Office of State Archaeology, Inc. (FOSA) are pleased to once again be offering our week-long Archaeology Field School for Adults.
Monday-Friday, 9AM-3PM
South Glastonbury, CT
Registration Cost for week-long field school:
$300 - Museum Members; $350 - Non-Members
Participants will gain hands on experience contributing to an authentic and significant archaeological investigation, working with primary sources at a 17th-century colonial site in South Glastonbury, Connecticut. Days will start at 9am and end at 3pm, with a break for a brown bag lunch. The field school will cover the basics of field methods, paperwork, mapping, data management, and artifact identification.
The program is designed to provide a deeper appreciation of the importance of archaeology as a tool for learning about Connecticut’s fascinating past. Learning proper archaeological methods will develop the participant’s understanding of the ethical aspects of archaeology and the archaeologist’s responsibility to preserve the data they retrieve so that it will remain valuable to future researchers.
The Archaeological Field School is taught by Connecticut State Archaeologist Dr. Sarah Sportman with support from FOSA, a non-profit organization whose mission is to support the Connecticut Office of State Archaeology through education, public outreach, partnerships with local communities, financial support, and public assistance.
While the program is open to all adults, it may be of special interest to educators who teach history or social sciences in a classroom or museum setting.
Space for this program is limited!
Registration is open to adults aged 18+ and ends Wednesday August 7, 2024.
View and download press release