New Mexico State University's Borderlands and Ethnic Studies Research Center will unveil its mobile education museum during a public grand opening Friday, Oct. 17, at NMSU's Preciado Park.

"Think Inside the Box: An Art-Installation of Local Histories, Ethnic Studies Curriculum" is the latest project by the BEST Research Center. As a novel approach to curriculum co-development, it offers opportunities to critically explore place-based content and exhibit design.

The mobile, living museum will be open for guests to explore during the grand opening, which begins at 4:30 p.m. The event will also feature refreshments, music and remarks from BEST faculty and community partners. Attendance is free, but RSVPs are required by Oct. 15.

On the heels of the Martinez/Yazzie Draft Action Plan released by the New Mexico Public Education department, the mobile museum is not just timely, it's a vital testament to the ingenuity and strength of the peoples of New Mexico. Flipping the script on the conventions of what exists in curriculum, this exhibit attempts to highlight the too often omitted histories of the borderlands region.

"'Think Inside the Box' is about moving 'alternative' knowledge to the center, honoring place-based knowing as foundational to the health of our borderlands region and the entire state of New Mexico," said Dulcinea Lara, BEST department head. "This shipping-box prototype demonstrates how we can co-create a curriculum that fulfills the Martinez/Yazzie family's wishes for their children to see themselves and their communities in school curriculum."

Lara added that the museum exemplifies BEST's work to expand ways of critical knowing, learning/unlearning, and relating to peoples and places in loving, kind and equitable ways while building harmonious, joyful lives with generosity and abundance. 

BEST's mission is to co-create knowledge rooted in place-based and borderlands histories to generate practices of justice, love, relationality and liberation. BEST programs engage students with pedagogies and knowledge that heighten their awareness of local and global histories and systems of power

For more information about BEST and the BEST Research Center, visit https://best.nmsu.edu. 

The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-best-department-to-unveil-mobile-museum-project-oct.-17/s/8b85bd8d-00a3-47b0-a85c-4edafc65fddc