Welcome to Julie H. Ernstein's page!

As many of you know, Jeff Guin graciously ran all over town (and even beyond town) last summer helping folks by filming their "This Place Matters" PSAs. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, sponsors of the This Place Matters program, is maintaining maps and links to TPM shorts. Only the actual owners of the clips can approve the links, but any of us can plant a flag for the places we care about. That said, I planted a flag on behalf of Front Street--and by implication all of Natchitoche… Continue

Ybor City or Bust!
I must admit that one of the biggest attractions of attending the CIG workshop in Tampa was the opportunity to visit Ybor City. Established in 1886 by Vicente Martinez-Ybor, Ybor City is Tampa's "latin quarter" and home to its Cuban, Spanish, Sicilian, and east European immigrant cigar-making community. One of three National Historic Landmark (NHL) districts in the state (sound familiar?), Ybor City is a vibrant, multi-cultural arts and entertainment district with a ric… Continue

Today is D-Day (a.k.a. Presentation Day)
That heading makes it sound far more stressful than it really was, but it is always humbling to be put back in the position of the student after so many years as the professor. Most folks were concerned about time and hitting all their talking points, their measurable outcomes, and just wanted to have the process behind us. We had drawn numbers the previous afternoon to determine the order of presentation, so were perfectly clear on the day's agend… Continue

Today's Lessons--Thurs. 7/17/08
Topics covered today focused on the assorted ins and outs of program development and program delivery. We covered question and response tactics, gimmicks and gadgets, verbal and non-verbal communication, and all manner of means for handling visitors. I found the discussion of informal interpretation to be particularly interesting and greatly appreciated the real-world examples of things like interpretive logbooks and recommended resources. (We have a hit-li… Continue

Today's Topics--Wed. 7/16/08
We resume with the topic of knowing your resource, and try to develop interpretive "hooks" that connect tangibles (i.e., the on-the-ground stuff we are trying to convey) to intangibles (i.e., higher-order, more universal issues). We discuss the National Park Service's interpretation equation (don't ask), do a few hands-on activities that move us around the room, and after a short break dive into the fact that a good interpretation has a purpose, is organized,… Continue