Two groups of students will present reports on development of a self-guided tour and other enhancements at the Bachmann Publick House in downtown Easton and creation of an automobile tour on CD to boost tourism and local awareness of historical assets in Nazareth and its surrounding rural municipalities.
The Nazareth team will present its midyear report to Nazareth Chamber of Commerce President Bill Brackbill Jr. 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, while the other group will give its final report to Bachmann Publick House officials 2 p.m. Sunday, May 18. Free and open to the public, the presentations will take place in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights auditorium.
The Technology Clinic working on the auto tour is comprised of Katherine Blair ’04, a religion and politics major from Marco Island, Fla.; Matt Hontz ’05, a mechanical engineering major from Bethlehem, Pa.; Josh Keely ’05, a mechanical engineering major from Curwensville, Pa.; Christina Morgan ’05, a history and government & law major from Flemington, N.J.; Alexis Siemons ’05, an English major from Moorestown, N.J.; and Mike Sparrow ’04, a double major in history and government & law from Pen Argyl, Pa. Their advisers are Technology Clinic director Dan Bauer, professor of anthropology, and Larry Malinconico, associate professor and acting head of geology and environmental geosciences.
Working on behalf of the Greater Nazareth Council of Governments, the students are developing an audio program that drivers would use to find and learn about historical sites in the region. Corresponding signs will help point out locations.
Audio editing software will be used to prepare the tour, which will be made available on a web site for downloading and “burning” onto a CD.
Wednesday’s presentation will include a short audio sample and corresponding video to show what drivers would see as they listen to the tour. The focus is a 11.5-mile stretch in Nazareth with several historical sites. The students gathered information through research and interviews of amateur and professional local historians.
The Bachmann team is comprised of Kenya Flash ’03, a double major in government & law and mathematics from Coopersburg, Pa.; Lee Goldfarb ’05, a history major from Sewickley, Pa.; George Lyons ’04, a mechanical engineering major from Bayside, N.Y.; Maura Oliphant ’03, a double major in English and anthropology & sociology from Chatham, N.J.; and Monika Serrano ’04, a mechanical engineering major from Caracas, Venezuela. Their advisers are Bauer and Beth Seetch, lecturer in English and coordinator of the College Writing Program.
The students have developed a building-wide audio tour using handheld technology, a table-sized model to be exhibited in the second-floor trade and currency room, and recommendations for maintaining and increasing the level of interactivity throughout the building.
The tour addresses the facility’s role in early Pennsylvania life and calls attention to specific details of its construction and reconstruction over the centuries. The second-floor exhibit gives insight into the importance of Easton and its tavern life to the commercial development of the region.