“Things That Matter. Materials and Culture in/for the Digital Age.”
The Groningen-Uppsala-Durham International Summer School
in Medieval and Early Modern Studies.
Uppsala, 17-21 June
For further information and for signing up, please contact Dr Dario Tessicini, [log in to unmask]
“Things That Matter” is a module offered in partnership by the Universities of Uppsala, Groningen and Durham. It takes place during the Easter Term, and consists of a preparatory ‘International Classroom’ module delivered online, and of a week-long Summer School held each year in one of the partner universities in collaboration with their local cultural institutions (University of Uppsala, Gustavianum; University of Groningen Library and Museum; Durham Palace Green Library).
Content
“Things that Matter” addresses the tension between the materiality of sources and their digitization. The recent advances of digital technology have created new modes of reproduction and forms of consumption that have substantially reshaped the concepts of ‘object’ and of ‘collection’ at the heart of cultural institutions such as libraries and museums. The Summer School engages with key questions that arise from the study of the past in the digital age. These issues include the changing nature of objects such as books and scientific instruments as source materials; the history and practice of collections and collecting, digitization and its challenges, both technological and intellectual.
“Things that Matter” maps the possibilities and challenges posed by the digital age for researchers. The ongoing process of digitization makes sources of the past available to a previously unknown extent: but what does this mean for researchers?
We will also discuss the role of objects in Public History. How does society approach the legacy of “things” in museums and heritage institutions? Which objects are “worth keeping”, why and when? Who determines the selection process and what are the selection criteria for curators, archivists and other agents in the sector? What collections are digitized and why those? Who makes the selections? How do we meet scientific demands on systematic design and transparency when working on online search engines and on differing (and sometimes incompatible) designs of data bases?
The Summer School brings together experts from both academia and the cultural heritage sector. Over the course of one week of intensive teaching, they will deliver lectures, lead seminars and hands-on sessions in libraries and museums, supervise student-led projects and presentations.
Participants: Master and PhD Students in History, Art History, Archaeology, Literary Studies, Library and Museum Studies.
Teaching Methods and Contact Hours:
- Preparatory online module [optional]
The online module runs for 6 weeks in the Easter Term. Total hours: 70 [inclusive of student-led seminars, discussion groups, and structured readings].
Tasks:
1. Research Presentation and Introduction: Students present their own research or research design submitted and shared online and then presented in virtual classroom at an introductory session.
2. Critical Reading: Prepare and assess key readings related to the subject “Things that Matter”. Students reflect in writing on required readings (which is done individually), identify 4 key questions related to the reading which are shared and discussed in the plenary virtual class room, where 4 guiding principles are developed to be applied to the design of a virtual collection
3. “Dry Swim”: Virtual Collection: Students of each of the three partner universities design a virtual collection of materials specific to the host Library/University Museum which they present to the students of the other partner universities.
4. Creative writing and reflection task: An Itinerary of an Object: a collaborative essay written by student groups.
Summer School (17-21 June 2019)
Programme: approx. 30 hours of teaching and learning activities over the course of one week (Monday-Friday). Typically, the Summer School will consist of lectures, hands-on sessions and excursions and student-led group work.
Tasks:
1. Actively participate in all components of the Summer School. All participants must demonstrate that they have digested and analysed the reading for each component of the Summer School
2. Present their own research in progress or research design
3. Write an essay in which they critically discuss the themes of the Summer School in relation to their own research
4. Write a SWOT analysis of the Summer School in which they reflect critically on their learning experience
Academic coordinators: Dr Mikael Alm (Uppsala); Prof. Raingard Esser (Groningen); Dr Dario Tessicini (Durham)
DU Contact: [log in to unmask];
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