Art of Ranching: Engaging Youth in Community History across Colorado
Front Range Region
Douglas
County
(Elbert, Garfield, Routt)
- 4-H & Youth
- Equal time spent on-campus and in the field
Primary Topic:
4-H & Youth
Other Topics:
Community & Economic Development, Agriculture
Internship Overview:
The Art of Ranching project (AOR) is a collaborative community history project that works with 4-H youth and community members to research historical topics related to Colorado agriculture to make visible the agricultural labor and legacy of Colorado communities. Agricultural operations and agricultural work is an art form in itself and every operation and agriculturalist takes a unique approach. Capturing these stories and making visible the significant contributions of these operations in these communities reveals that art. Partners of this project include Colorado State University’s Office of Engagement and Extension Rural Engagement initiative – Vibrant Communities, Colorado State University Department of History, Public and Environmental History Center and History Colorado. The shared authority protocols (producing histories through collaboration) inherent in oral history collection, archival historical research, and public history interpretation allows participants to co-create and interpret their own past. Oral history collection by 4-H youth engages multiple generations, often within the same family, in sharing and transferring knowledge to younger generations.
Goals, Scope and Objectives:
This Extension internship builds upon the existing work of the Art of Ranching Project, which is one of the Office of Engagement and Extension’s Rural Initiative projects, from Summer 2023. The overall goal of the internship is to A) provide the intern with opportunities to develop their historical research and writing skills and B) provide the intern with opportunities to build upon their skills working with community partners such as 4-H youth and their elders. During the course of this internship, the intern will: 1) conduct archival research, work with local historians and other history professionals as needed 2) engage in site visits to communities, and 3) support and assist in the training of 4-H youth in oral history interviewing. Travel is expected to locations where interviews take place.
With which stakeholder group(s) will the intern work?
The intern will be working with counties participating in the Summer 2024 AOR project, working with 1) local historians and history institutions as identified by the lead mentor and AOR team, 2) 4-H youth supervised by 4-H volunteers, and 3) agricultural historic topics as identified by the lead mentor and AOR team.
What student learning outcomes do you anticipate and what are the opportunities for professional development?
At the end of the internship, the intern will be able to 1) collaborate with local historians and history institutions to produce accurate interpretations of agricultural historical topics, 2) facilitate oral history training with 4-H youth, and 3) contribute to a public/digital history project that involves community members, local historians and history institutions that accurately reflect the histories and interests of participants.
