South Carolina Institute for Community Scholars
Offered every two years, The Institute for Community Scholars (ICS) is an intensive one-week training program for individuals interested in documentation and promotion of community culture, folklife, and traditional arts. The most recent Institute took place July 15- 21, 2007 at Clemson University.
The Institute is targeted to individuals with an interest in community documentation who have little or no formal training in this area. Participants will receive assistance in designing and executing a community research project, cataloguing the resulting material and developing considerations for public programming based upon the project material generated.
Participants will gain skills in these areas:
- Documenting community culture through photography, audio and video tape and written materials
- Cataloging and preserving these materials for use by others
- Creating products, projects, partnerships and initiatives based on this research
Who should apply?
Educators, arts administrators, performing arts presenters, museum curators, lay historians, park rangers, librarians, artists, and musicians interested in traditional forms can benefit from the experience. Preference will be given to those who demonstrate serious interest in and commitment to working to document and present community culture. The Institute is limited to 25 individuals.
What is the cost?
Sponsored by the South Carolina Arts Commission, The Folk &
Traditional Arts program of the National Endowment for the Arts, and The South
Carolina Humanities Council, the Institute covers tuition, housing and meals for all accepted applicants. A $35 materials fee is due upon acceptance to the Institute. Transportation will be provided during the week for travel to and from planned local field excursions, but participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements to and from the Institute.
Additional support for the Institute is provided by
For more information, please contact Julianne Carroll (803-734-8764).
About the Institute for Community Scholars
The Institute for Community Scholars is one of the cornerstones of the Folklife & Traditional Arts program of the South Carolina Arts Commission. It was established in 1997 to create a network of individuals in South Carolina promoting traditional arts and culture at the local level. To date, we have conducted five Institutes and trained over 80 individuals from across South Carolina.