Materializing the Invisible: Transforming ASU Tempe campus to an open-air museum to explore the impact of time depth on community sense of place

‘Materializing the invisible’ is a research and public engagement project that seeks to make the archaeology of ASU’s Tempe campus accessible to its proximate and broader community. By transforming the campus into an open-air museum where the past can be experienced in a variety of ways that are integrated into the quotidian experiences of campus life, we aim to create a public conversation of what long-term heritage is, how it affects our sense of place and belonging in the present, and how it can transform the way we imagine our future. Our team of archaeologists, museologists, industrial designers, visual communication designers, and English scholars will focus on the oldest occupation – the Hohokam period – to pioneer novel ways to make the past accessible in daily life and to evaluate its effect on students’ and visitors’ sense of place.