Reports of Education, Museum, and Scholarly Services 



49 



use museum resources to meet curriculum objectives. The 

 Paul Peck Humanities Institute, a partnership at Mont- 

 gomery College in Maryland, provided faculty research 

 fellowships, internships, and seminars. The office continued 

 to promote the popular heritage-month programming at the 

 Institution. This year, for example, a workshop for teenage 

 writers conducted by prominent Afro-Latino authors was 

 filled to capacity. 



The office also broughr Smithsonian expertise to places 

 rhroughout the country. The American Indian Museum 

 Srudies Program conducted extensive seminars in Louisiana, 

 Florida, and Alaska. Regional workshops in Riverside, Cali- 

 fornia, and Austin, Texas, fostered partnerships between 

 school districts, local museums, and the Smithsonian. In 

 these community-based programs, the Smithsonian models 

 methods and gives technical support. 



The new Smithsonian Field Trip Guide for Educators, funded 

 by several Washington-area foundations, was launched this 

 year. This 96-page guide details tours and programs for stu- 

 dents and professional development opporrunities for 

 educators at all Smithsonian museums, research institutes, 

 and offices. An "educator's toolkit" section, developed with 

 the cooperation of schoolteachers and some 60 Smithsonian 

 contributors, contains proven educational strategies and a 

 guide to making connections between the Smithsonian's per- 

 manent exhibitions and national education standards in 

 history, science, and rhe arts. 



Accessibility Program 



Janice Majewski, Accessibility Coordinator 



The number of people who have disabiliries has been increas- 

 ing as life spans lengthen. Today, one in five Americans has a 

 disability. That translates into greater numbers of Smithson- 

 ian visitors with diverse abilities and disabilities. The 

 Accessibility Program advocates for and coordinates actions 

 by Smithsonian museums, research institutes, and offices to 

 accommodate audiences that include people with disabili- 

 ties. The program's activities this year demonstrate the 

 diversity of the audiences and issues. 



The program collaborated with the National Museum of 

 American Hisrory and the National Rehabilitation Aware- 

 ness Foundarion ro present "Disability and the Practice of 

 Public History," a ground-breaking conference for scholars, 

 museum professionals, and disabiliry advocates. The partici- 

 pants concluded that disability history must be part of 

 public narratives, including exhibitions. Integral to the suc- 

 cess of the conference was the program's model provision of 

 accessibility services to accommodate the 200 conference 

 registrants with diverse disabilities. 



Professionals from the Smithsonian and Washington, 

 D.C., area cultural organizations attended five continuing 

 education sessions held by the program, focusing on accom- 

 modations for visitors who are blind or have low vision. The 

 topics were tactile opportunities in museums, site orienta- 



tion and wayfinding, assistive technologies, the Mashan- 

 tucket Pequot Museum's information system for visitors 

 with vision impairments, and publications accessibility. 



As Smithsonian visitors' demand for accessibility services 

 increased, rhe program provided more than 550 hours of 

 sign-language interpretation, audio description, and Real- 

 time captioning services through its centralized resources. 

 Review of design and construction plans for the accessibility 

 of facilities and exhibitions is a priority. Significant projects 

 this year included renovation plans for the National Museum 

 of American Arr and the National Portrait Gallery, the Na- 

 tional Museum of the American Indian's museum on rhe 

 Mall and irs Culrural Resources Center, the Victor Building, 

 and the Star-Spangled Banner Preservarion Project conserva- 

 rion laboratory and exhibition. 



Institute for Conservation Biology 



The Institute for Conservation Biology (ICB) continued its 

 mission to facilitate multidisciplinary initiatives in conserva- 

 tion science by drawing together the myriad skills and 

 resources of rhe Smithsonian Institution, collaborating with 

 other organizations, and creating alliances rhat effectively 

 address a broad range of conservation issues resulting from 

 the biodiversity crisis. ICB continued to forge strong rela- 

 tions with non-Smithsonian agencies and nongovernmental 

 organizations. 



ICB and The World Bank cohosted an environmental 

 roundtable for 35 participants from the host organizarions, 

 the U.S. and Ecuadorian governments, nongovernmental or- 

 ganizations, and foundations. Jamil Mahuad, president of 

 Ecuador, spoke on "Ecuador's New Vision on Sustainable 

 Development," followed by an open discussion. U.S. Secre- 

 rary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt gave the concluding 

 remarks. 



Two distinguished guests were featured in ICB's ongoing 

 Visiting Speaker Luncheon Series: Timothy Wirth, president 

 of the United Nations Foundation, and Rosina Bierbaum, 

 associate director for environment in the Office of Science 

 and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President. 

 This series acquaints Smithsonian scientists and staff with 

 the Institution's environmentally oriented neighbors and 

 serves as a springboard for cooperative initiatives. 



With the University of Maryland graduate program in 

 Sustainable Development and Conservarion Biology, ICB 

 hosted the Society for Conservation Biology's 1999 annual 

 meeting, "Integrating Policy and Science in Conservarion 

 Biology." The institute and The World Bank cosponsored a 

 luncheon meering with Ernesto Perez Balladares, president 

 of the Republic of Panama, to discuss ecotourism and the 

 need for strategic alliances among tourism, conservation, 

 and scientific research. ICB continued to offer its course, 

 "Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation," at Johns Hopkins 

 University's Washington, D.C., campus. Thirteen Smith- 

 sonian scientists taught the course during the fall 1999 

 semester. 



