Summary: Two Calvin grads and a history professor are working together to create an online museum of Umm el-Jimal, an ancient town in northern Jordan.
Paul Christians '03 and Jeff De Kock '01, founders of Open Hand Studios, a nonprofit organization that works in cultural heritage preservation, are partnering with Calvin history professor Bert de Vries to create a virtual museum and curriculum about the ancient Jordanian site, Umm el-Jimal.
A Site Preservation Grant from the Archaeological Institute of America will enable the two alums to preserve Umm-el-Jimal through pictures, video, educational materials, oral histories and other media.
Bert de Vries has been the principal investigator of Umm-el-Jimal for more than 40 years. His four decades of research in excavating and preserving the ancient site will also be hosted in the online museum.
The strong emphasis de Vries places on education in his preservation efforts has helped persuade the Jordan Ministry of Education to offer archaeology in the country's schools. Open Hand Studios is helping de Vries to develop that curriculum.
For more information on the project, visit http://ummeljimal.org/
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Received on Fri Sep 17 12:10:22 2010
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