Education

MoAD’s education program consists of exhibition-specific curriculum; professional development educator’s workshop; a core curriculum on the African Diaspora for students in grades 6 to 12 and their teachers; school group tours; a skills-based vocational preparedness media training for youth; and a technology-based oral history project.

MoAD in the Middle (MiM)

MoAD in the Middle, a new program initiative under development, is a content-rich curriculum that tells the story of the African Diaspora in the form of lesson plans that feature social studies, geography, history, and the arts. MiM spotlights the museum as a resource for teachers and students and as a committed partner of Bay Area school districts in the effort to improve academic performance. The curriculum and complementary educator’s workshops feature the artistic, social, cultural and political impact of and on Africa and African descendant peoples locally and throughout the globe. The lesson plans are based on MoAD’s core themes [Origins, Movement, Adaptation, and Transformation] for k-12 students and their teachers. Workshops for middle school teachers are held throughout the academic year. Teachers also receive complete exhibition-related curriculum materials and additional teacher resources. The San Francisco Unified School District is MoAD’s partner in creating MiM.

Youth Media Interns

Youth Media Interns program is an interdisciplinary youth development and job readiness program featuring a rich mentoring environment and hands-on experiences, the Youth Media Docent Program offers training and stipends to youth in grades 10 through 12. Program participants learn multimedia production skills while using digital technology to produce museum and website content. The program also teaches youth the fundamentals of museum operations and museum careers. Additionally, the youth develop their public speaking skills through peer-to-peer interactions under the mentorship of museum staff. The program targets key areas such as the Bayview-Hunters Point and West Oakland, and provides opportunities to youth from schools in underserved Bay Area communities who would otherwise not be able to develop their media, leadership, and communication skills. During and after their internship the youth serve as a bridge to museum content for the public and their peers. And, as a consequence of their training, they leave the program better prepared for the next stage of their professional lives.

Public Programs

Public programs include exhibition and non-exhibition related programs for audiences of all ages including lectures, symposiums, conferences, gallery talks, guided tours, interactive demonstrations/workshops, discussions and special events, educator and artist workshops, films, book signings and conversations with authors, among others. Programs feature a variety of topics and themes related to Africa and the African Diaspora and all forms of social and cultural expressions including dance, music, literature, visual arts, craft, religion, language, journalism, education, technology, heritage, genealogy, aspects of popular culture and mass media, and historical and contemporary social, political and economic issues.

The Wells Fargo Heritage Center

The Wells Fargo Heritage Center was established as a multimedia resource space with banks of computers for visitors to research, learn and access information about to the content of the permanent exhibitions and four core themes: Origins, Movement, Adaptation, and Transformation that offer the framework for our exhibitions and educational and public programs. The Center offers workshops, public programs and opportunities for internships for college and university students and others. Programs geared to families and adult learner audiences highlight genealogy, family heritage, and new scientific discoveries revealing our common ancestry in Africa. As the program develops, web links will be established between the Heritage Center and other similarly focused organizations locally, nationally and internationally, with local libraries and universities throughout the Bay Area, California and beyond, among them UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, Cornell, and Indiana University and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. Since it was established, the Center has received over 3,000 visitors from the Bay Area and around the world.

“I’ve Known Rivers”: The MoAD Stories Project

A part of our Oral History/Legacy Program, IKR is an unprecedented effort to collect, publish, and archive "first voice" digital narratives about people of African descent. Since it was launched in 2006 the project has achieved several milestones, including four volumes of multimedia, digital stories, summer youth media literacy programs, several IKR Salons in the museum with IKR contributors such as Francis Bok, Quincy Troupe, Donald Harrison, Jr., etc., and special engagements such as "Uplift," the successful, standing-room-only spoken word and theatric event performed by survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Diaspora Curriculum

MoAD creates interdisciplinary Curriculum Guides to accompany each of our Special Exhibitions. Curriculum Guides make exhibition content more accessible for K-12 classrooms, and are written to meet California State Content Standards. MoAD is also partnering with other educational institutions in order to create and publish resources for educators to use in classroom curriculum. Visit the Curriculum page for related resource.

e-Education

The MoAD education program uses the Museum’s website as a primary repository and public resource of Diaspora content and curriculum. Online exhibitions developed uniquely for virtual use, Museum exhibitions adapted for presentation on the web, and the archiving of public programs for visitors unable to attend, make it possible for more people to participate in MoAD’s experience.

Family Days

MoAD offers Family Days on the Third Saturday of EVERY month! Family days offer museum visitors of every age an opportunity to explore the museums exhibitions and themes through guided tours, hands-on art activities, storytelling, and more. Check the MoAD calendar for upcoming programs.

Target Community Days

Twice per year, MoAD teams up with Target^® to offer children and adults an intergenerational day with hands-on program that explore aspects of the African Diaspora related to Museum exhibitions. Join in as local artists and community organizations lead workshops and demonstrations, visit our interactive storyteller, enjoy a healthy snack, and more!!! Check the Public Programs calendar for upcoming programs.