2021 Virtual Mid-Year Meeting

July 11-15, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 2021 Update

 

FINAL PROGRAM!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 2021 Update

 

Live on your computer this July, it’s the AME60 Mid-Year Meeting!

 

Although it’s not the same as seeing you all in person, we have a great program planned this year (and free, as usual). TRB, FHWA, and ACHP will provide updates, and sessions include DOT Historic Roads Efforts, Unusual and Postwar Resources, Diversity and Inclusion in Section 106 consultation. The free conference concludes with the results from a brand-new video competition called “Our Favorite Places” (see below for more information)!

 

The Transportation Research Board/National Academies of Science will host the meeting via Zoom, with a link sent out before the conference to registrants.

 

 

REGISTER NOW!

 

Registration deadline: Monday, July 5

 

 

Sunday, July 11, 1-4 p.m. EDT

Committee Business Meeting (all invited)

 

Monday, July 12, through Wednesday, July 14

Conference sessions will run from approximately 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m. EDT/10 a.m.–1:30 p.m. PDT followed by informal networking/discussion each day

 

Monday, July 12

• Committee News

• ACHP/FHWA Policy Updates with Mandy Ranslow and David Clarke

• The Road Ahead: Updates on DOT Historic Road Efforts

 

Tuesday, July 13

• Unusual and Postwar Historic Resources

• Tribal Consultation Workshop

 

Wednesday, July 14

• Diversity and Inclusion in Section 106 consultation

 

 

If you have any questions about the committee or the mid-year meeting, email Mary Alfson Tinsman.

 

 

New for 2021 Virtual Meeting –– Our Favorite Places Video Contest!

 

After a long pandemic haul, everyone is eager to get out and about for summer. While we’re still virtual this year, we’re inviting our great community to take us out on tour to our committee and friends’ favorite places across the nation.

 

If you’ve ever watched an Ed Wood film and asked yourself “why am I watching this?” AME60 invites you to do better. Grab your phone and go to your favorite place in your home state and take us along. Your video should be 5 to 10 minutes long and entertain us with facts and/or anecdotes about where you are and why. Quality levels anywhere from Blair Witch to Scorsese are accepted, although please ensure your submittal is appropriate to a general audience.

 

Each video will be uploaded to YouTube for all your friends and colleagues to see and will be promoted throughout the mid-year meeting. But wait there’s more! This is a friendly competition. A panel of judges will vote on the best tour submission.

 

The winning director will not only get bragging rights for a year but will receive the first ever AME (pronounced “Amy”) Award. You’ll be sure to get a preview from Oklahoma, the host of 2022’s in-person AME60 summer meeting.

 

If you are interested in submitting a video, please email Terri Lotti and Carl Shields for detailed instructions!

 

 

April 2021 Update

 

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

 

 

The 2021 AME60 Mid-Year Meeting held July 11–15, 2021 will be online and free!

 

The AME60 Committee (Historic and Archaeological Preservation) of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) business meeting will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, July 11th from 1:00-5:00 EST. You do not need to be a committee member to attend, so please feel free to join the Zoom meeting to listen in on the latest news from the committee!

 

From July 12th through the 15th, there will sessions summarizing recent NCHRP studies results and discussing upcoming research needs; updates from FHWA, FRA, FTA, ACHP, and TRB; and an expanded and interactive workshop from the winter meeting focusing on tribal involvement beyond the Section 106 regulations, led by Dr. Rhonda Fair of the Oklahoma DOT.

 

We are also seeking presentations on a wide range of fascinating projects and case studies. The AME60 Program Planning Committee identified several areas of interest for sessions; however, please feel free to share other topics and ideas! Please respond with your proposed presentation or session topics by April 30.

 

What’s My Line Anyway? – Do you find it challenging to delineate an APE for a long, linear transportation corridor? Do you find yourself at the end of a project wondering why you surveyed all those properties or realizing you did not survey enough? Consider presenting about a project that made you question the size of the APE you used; share your best practices for “right sizing” an APE or how your agency has codified how APEs are defined; or discuss how your agency or state incorporated ACHP’s recent guidance on “direct” versus “indirect” effects and how has or has not that changed your APEs.

 

Diversity and Inclusion in the Section 106 Process and the National Register – The world changed in many ways in 2020. These events and more have led many people to question a variety of industry practices, from transportation inequities to livability to what makes a property “historic.”

 

Consider presenting projects or properties which you interpret or view differently now because of changes in perceptions that came about because of recent events or simply by taking a more inclusive approach to your identification and evaluation efforts. Or consider presenting on barriers and opportunities you see to improve diversity and inclusion in what is considered “historic.”

 

Hear More Voices – AME60 and TRB are always looking to improve and expand the involvement of others voices in our Mid-Year conference. Please consider sharing this announcement with SHPO, THPOs, tribal members, and community members especially from underrepresented communities and encouraging other perspectives and voices around cultural resources to help diversify our profession.

 

Communication – Do you feel like you are always saying “tomahto” and everyone else on your project team is saying “tomato”? Do you struggle to get project partners or the public to understand what the heck you are talking about (APE, character-defining features, period of significance, etc.)? Have you heard from people that our bureaucratic process inadvertently creates barriers to broader communication and receiving meaningful public input? Alternatively, have you had great success communicating with project partners and/or the public and if so, what were your means and methods (plain language, online platforms, etc.)? Consider submitting a presentation on your struggles or successes in having meaningful and successful communication.

 

Mitigation – Building off previous successful sessions on creative mitigation, consider presenting on struggles figuring out how to mitigate for your project’s effects, or on successful or meaningful mitigation that you havedeveloped. How do you measure the meaningfulness of the mitigation?

 

Unusual Resources – Following up on the smashing success of the mobile homes session at last year’s meeting, consider submitting a proposal for a presentation or session on another unusual or unique resources type you’d like to bring to the group for discussion, commiseration, or exploration.

 

Cultural Landscapes – The National Park Service’s bulletin on cultural landscape is soon approaching its 30th year (published in 1994). Consider presenting on how our industries understanding or and recognition of cultural landscapes have changed over time, how they may change in the future, or present on a recent cultural landscape study. The exact times for presentations will be announced later, but likely will run from 12:00-

5:00 EST each day.

 

As always, the AME60 Mid-Year Meeting and TRB overall are great opportunities to talk about the challenges you face in your work and how your teams might have succeeded in ways that others can appreciate. We will have registration information out in a couple weeks, but save the date, and be sure to spread the word with others in CRM and TRB committees that may overlap with our world, but also with engineers and project planners who might add to the conversation.

 

Looking forward to seeing you online this July! Please direct any questions or suggestions to Program Chair Steve Archer.