| Title | Curating Curiosities: Object-Based Learning in Museum and Classroom Settings |
|---|---|
| Faculty/College/Unit | Arts |
| Status | Completed |
| Duration | 3 Years |
| Initiation | 04/01/2017 |
| Completion | 03/31/2020 |
| Funding Details | |
| Year 1: Project Year | Year 1 |
| Year 1: Funding Year | 2017/2018 |
| Year 1: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 1: Principal Investigator | Tara Mayer |
| Year 1: Funded Amount | 4,584 |
| Year 1: Team Members | Tara Mayer, Instructor I, History, Faculty of Arts |
| Year 1: Summary | Support is sought for a special summer class at the Museum of Vancouver (MoV). The Museum holds a unique collection of objects from South Asia, which were brought to Vancouver in the 1930s by local travellers. These objects have never before been catalogued, researched, or exhibited. During the Summer Session 2017, the History Department seeks to offer a special course for its undergraduate students that centres on interrogating these objects and their implications for local history. Led jointly by UBC faculty and a senior MoV curator, the course consists of both classroom elements (examining the theory of material culture research and establishing a historical context for these objects) and time in the museum collections. This will allow undergraduate students to be actively engaged in ongoing research and experience first- hand how the skills of a History degree can be applied to communicating new knowledge about the past to the wider community. |
| Year 2: Project Year | Year 2 |
| Year 2: Funding Year | 2018/2019 |
| Year 2: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 2: Principal Investigator | Tara Mayer |
| Year 2: Funded Amount | 3,987 |
| Year 2: Team Members | Tara Mayer, Instructor I, History, Faculty of Arts |
| Year 2: Summary | This project builds a new institutional partnership between UBC and the Museum of Vancouver (MOV). It will [1] provide new experiential learning opportunities to undergraduate students, [2] develop open educational resources, and [3] engage the wider community. It centres on a largely uncharted collection of South Asian artefacts brought to Vancouver in the 1930s/40s. These collected “curiosities” brought back by local travelers as well as by Indian immigrants to Vancouver reveal stories about the city’s changing place in the world. In the first iteration of the course (May/June 2017), students surveyed these objects and produced catalogue entries. In the second year of the project -- for which this application seeks funding -- students will deepen this research and produce "life-histories" of these objects in collaboration with local knowledge-bearers. In the third year (2019/20), students will turn this body of research into an online exhibition and open educational resource. |
| Year 3: Project Year | Year 3 |
| Year 3: Funding Year | 2019/2020 |
| Year 3: Project Type | Small TLEF |
| Year 3: Principal Investigator | Tara Mayer |
| Year 3: Funded Amount | 7,828 |
| Year 3: Team Members | Tara Mayer, Instructor, History, Faculty of Arts |
| Year 3: Summary | In the second year of the project (Summer 2018), students expanded on this work and produced "life-histories" of these objects in collaboration with local knowledge-holders. In the third year (Summer 2019), students will turn this body of research into an online exhibition and open educational resource. |