MIDDLEBURY — Vermont Folklife Center will host a series of four online presentations in conjunction with their Summer Institute programming, Aug. 2-13. These virtual events are free and open to the public. Through guided discussions with local educators, artists, and VFC staff, each session will offer a different perspective on how ethnography, an approach and set of methods for understanding and representing human experience, and can inform and strengthen community-based inquiry and knowledge creation. Visit vtfolklife.org/events for a full schedule and description and how to register.

Ethnographic Learning with K-12 students will open the series on Tuesday, Aug. 3, from 3-4 p.m., featuring two educators’ experiences designing audio projects and multimedia storytelling in the classroom setting. Sarah Keener (Hazen Union School) and Katie Wyndorf (Edmunds Middle School) will reflect on ethnographic approaches to learning and how this promotes key transferable skills for students.

VFC Associate Director and Archivist Andy Kolovos will provide an insider’s view of the Folklife Center’s Archive on Friday, Aug. 6, 3-4 p.m. The Virtual Tour of the VFC Archives will showcase how oral history and ethnographic collections influence past and present VFC projects and community-driven studies.

On Tuesday, Aug. 10, from 3-4 p.m., learn about one musician’s experience collaborating with traditional artists to create cultural enrichment and sustainability for the Old North End neighborhood and beyond. Community Collaboration & Traditional Arts: A Project from Burlington’s Old North End, will feature Brian Perkins and collaborators.

VT Untapped, Ethnography and Podcasting will close out the Summer Institute on Friday, Aug. 13, from 3-4 p.m. This session will feature the producers of VFC’s podcast, “VT Untapped,” who will discuss the process of making archival material come alive and creating relevance for the present-day. 

For more information and to register for these public talks, visit vtfolklife.org/events or send an email to [email protected]. Registration is free. Donations to support the Folklife Center’s ongoing public programming are gratefully accepted.