Registration is open for the next course in interpretive guiding, put on by the National Association for Interpretation and Ohio University. The course will be held August 23 – 26 at Wilson Hall on Ohio University’s main campus in Athens.

This four-day, 32-hour course gives its students the background, skills and strategies to create memorable tours, giving guides new ways of engaging audiences.

The class is open to both the public and Ohio University students. Click here to register! Full-time Ohio University students should register for the class here.

Interpretation is a defined by communications researcher Sam H. Ham as a “process aimed at provoking audiences to do their own thinking and thereby develop their own understanding of your topic.” His definition explains why interpretation is so powerful and effective.

New interpretive guides will be given an entire arsenal of strategies to engage audiences, with the ultimate goal of creating a connection between the audience and a topic. In environmental circles, the goal is to foster stewardship. For other guides, interpretation can help audiences gain greater understanding of complex or far-away topics.

In the new development initiative, the Winding Road, interpretation plays a strong role. In each of the development sectors, organizers are turning to interpretive guiding and signage as a way to increase awareness and appreciation for the assets in Southeast Ohio while creating a small-scale economy that utilizes local knowledge and skills.

To learn more about the interpretive guide course, contact Instructor Ken Bowald at kbowald@yahoo.com. To learn more about the Winding Road Initiative, contact us at thewindingroadohio@gmail.com.