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CORE OF DISCOVERY
The 2003-06 bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition is fast approaching, and UM has positioned itself to be a national leader in providing information about the Corps of Discovery. The University is deeply engaged in the upcoming national commemoration, whether having UM historian Harry Fritz discussing the expedition on the History Channel; bringing Gary Moulton, the editor of the definitive edition of the Lewis and Clark journals, to campus as a guest lecturer; or training teachers to use NASA satellites to study the corps’ trail. UM even markets itself with a slogan that harks back to Lewis and Clark: “The Discovery Continues.”
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Whether you see Lewis and Clark as bold American adventurers or the vanguard of unheralded change, UM offers information and dialogue about the expedition from a variety of different viewpoints.
Following are just a few ways UM contributes to our knowledge of Lewis and Clark.
Lewis
and Clark on the Web
One of the best places to learn more about the historic travelers is the
“Discovering
Lewis and Clark” Web site. The dynamic and ever-changing Web
site is produced by former UM Professor Joe Mussulman. Interpretive episodes
that explore some aspect of the expedition are added periodically.
“Discovering Lewis and Clark” includes more than 1,200 pages and gets 27,000 hits a day. The site has been described by historians as the best source of Lewis and Clark information on the Internet.
The Web site, online since 1997, is funded by a nonprofit corporation Mussulman created called VIAs. Look for new episodes at the site for several years to come. Fiscal management of the site is provided by The Bookstore at UM.
From
East to West to the Stars
UM’s Earth Observing System Education Project trains teachers to
study the Lewis and Clark Trail with advanced technologies. The project’s
summer institutes let educators explore the historical and contemporary
landscape of the trail and develop new educational and interpretive concepts
for the upcoming bicentennial.
Participants delve into Lewis and Clark educational curricula, interpret characteristics of the trail, use advanced data visualization, analyze the Corps of Discovery route with global positioning systems and geographic information systems, and join in interpretive field tours.
UM’s EOS Education Project is a NASA-funded organization that disseminates Earth science imagery and curricula to the global educational community –– especially information from NASA’s Earth Observing System of environmental satellites.
First
Americans’ First Impressions
The Corps of Discovery encountered many American Indian tribes on its
epic journey, and UM will become a leader in examining Lewis and Clark
from the perspective of the West’s original inhabitants when it
hosts “A Confluence of Cultures: Native Americans and the Expedition
of Lewis and Clark” on May 28-31, 2003.
The entire length of the Corps of Discovery’s journey was in Indian Country. On many occasions Lewis and Clark’s survival and success depended on Indian people and shared cultural lessons.
The event will encourage scholarship about native cultures at the time of the expedition and examine the changes that have occurred over the last two centuries. Participation is being sought from both Indian and Euro-American researchers to spark a dynamic exchange of new thought on how each culture views (and viewed) the expedition and how the coming together of cultures has changed the environment, cultural traditions, lifestyles and the United States itself. V
—Cary Shimek