Classroom Support: ANE/AH M179

Faculty Member(s) / Advisors

• Willeke Wendrich, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
• Deidre Whitmore, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
• Matthew Robb, Chief Curator, Fowler Museum

Graduate or Undergraduate Involvement

• Undergraduate

Syllabus Course Description

Museums, especially those with world art and antiquities collections, are involved in many different tasks and have to take into account a variety of perspectives. In this class we will explore what it takes to run a museum and create an exhibit. After an introduction to the different types of museum work, ranging from collecting and curation, to research, conservation, presentation, visitor experience and management, the class will jointly create an exhibit design based on the rich Fowler Museum collection. The class will research and discuss the context and different stake holders that relate to the material under consideration.  The students will consider the narrative of the exhibit and how the objects and their arrangement convey deliberate or accidental messages. They will consider the audiences as well as the original context of each object. Central to the concept and design of the exhibit are questions such as “who is presenting and who is represented”, with a focus on the people behind the objects, technologies or material characteristics.

In June 2018 the Fowler Museum will open an exhibit on Iron and Iron working. The class will work parallel to the museum staff on a virtual exhibit, with each student working on contextualizing their own unique object. The digital exhibit makes use of 3D scans of objects and 3D representations that will be showcased in the 3D Kiosk in the Young Research Library research commons.

Challenges met

This was a unique opportunity, and the first of its kind, for the Lux Lab to be directly involved in the curriculum of an undergraduate course. It was very experimental in nature, but Willeke's eagerness to incorporate the Lux Lab's technology was the driving force behind this project.

Students were tasked to choose from a variety of artifacts that were slated to be displayed in an upcoming exhibit in the Fowler, focusing on African iron working. The artifacts were ornate and sometimes ceremonial blades. These objects were incredibly difficult to scan on account of the thinness of the blades. However, Willeke's class was based on what was currently being exhibited in the Fowler museum, and so we did not have a choice in the artifacts scanned. Still, it was a valuable lesson that we learned.

We were additionally able to give a short lecture to the class on how they can touch up the models that they had. Due to time constraints, I was unable to polish off each and every artifact (there were about 20 students, so 20 scans), and although I gave each student a 3D model, some had holes or texture issues or other problems. The lecture that I gave was intended to give the students the tools and knowledge they needed to fix these issues on their own. We have enough licenses of the Artec scanning software that we are able to lend a couple licenses to Cotsen so that they can give their students access to the software.

Lastly, this project opened the doors for us to make connections in the Fowler museum. After scanning artifacts for the class, we were also given access to a variety of artifacts in Fowler's collection. These scans were experimental, designed to show Fowler the capabilities of the scanners and the ease with which we are able to digitize collections. A few of those scans are pictured below.

Pictures