MUST 39901. COLLECTIONS RESEARCH: PELLA COLLECTION Have you ever wondered how museum curators research objects in their collections, and where the information on museum labels comes from? This course is designed to give students hands-on experience working with an archaeological collection in a museum setting. Structured in a lab-like format, students will use physical archaeological documentation to create a digital catalog for the objects, and reconcile that catalog with the objects in museum storage to ensure proper, correct documentation. Students will also photodocument these objects. After gaining familiarity with the cataloging system, students will each prepare a research portfolio on an assigned topic, collating object records and information, photographs, and excavation documentation from Special Collections; in this process, they will undertake object-based research and learn how to collate and integrate information from the archaeological dig with object-based information. This class is an Experiential Learning course: you will be working in collections, learning how to handle objects. We will connect sources across disciplines: history, museum studies, archaeology, classics – and divergent kinds of data (material objects, photographs, film, archival documentation, object records, archaeological fieldnotes) to synthesize information about these objects. In your final projects, you will choose amongst these forms how best to tell a story about your objects. [EL]
