Eloquent Things: Teaching Using Real Objects

In an increasingly virtual world, direct encounters with real objects have come to be regarded as important and versatile tools in University teaching across a wide range of disciplines. The Ashmolean has established itself as a pioneer of this exciting new pedagogy.

Eloquent Things is a short course, comprising four mornings in the study rooms and galleries of the Ashmolean Museum, intended as a hands-on introduction to the principles and practice of teaching with objects.

Using works of art and archaeological material gathered from the Ashmolean's extraordinary collections, we will discover methodologies that are also applicable to rare books, buildings, everyday objects or, indeed, any type of material culture. We will consider how you might collaborate with curatorial staff in museums, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of study-room teaching, involving object handling, and gallery-based teaching looking at objects on display.

We will also explore how teaching with objects can offer new routes into your own research; open up new ways of working with students in the classroom; or lead to inter- or multi-disciplinary forms of teaching.
 
The course is led by Dr Jim Harris, the Ashmolean's Teaching Curator and Academic Engagement Coordinator.
Jim is an art historian, trained at the Courtauld Institute of Art and specialising in late-medieval and Renaissance sculpture. His teaching at Oxford spans a wide range of disciplines from the Medical Sciences to the Humanities, calling into service the full breadth of the Ashmolean's collections.

The course runs at the Ashmolean Museum over four consecutive mornings, 10am-1pm with a small group of 8 DPhils and Postdocs.  Some additional preparation is necessary during the week, for the teaching exercises on Thursday and Friday. It is essential that participants commit to the whole course.
 

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Handle museum objects correctly
• Understand some of the conservation issues surrounding the use of various materials and object types
• Discuss the ways in which a group of students might interact with objects, and explain how these interactions might contribute to student learning in your discipline
• Articulate some of the advantages and challenges of working with objects
• Understand how to make connections between your field of research/teaching and objects of disparate types
• Frame questions that will enable collaborative knowledge creation and exchange
• Work collaboratively with researchers from other disciplines
• Design and deliver an object-based lesson using one or more objects from the museum collections
• Understand the challenges/opportunities of teaching in public gallery spaces
• Design and deliver teaching on objects on display in a public museum gallery
• Approach curatorial and collections staff confidently to discuss/explore teaching with museum objects

To apply for a place on the course, please select 'Apply now' and complete the application form by 9am on Wednesday 25th February. Spaces for this course is limited and priority will be given to postdoctoral researchers and those in years 3 and 4 of their DPhil.  

**Please note, this course requires a £20 deposit which will be refunded once you have attended the course, or have cancelled your place at least 72 hours before the course start date. Please see our full Terms and Conditions for more information.