Where the classroom and the museum are far apart, object-led teaching has to call on the everyday. But some of the most exciting learning opportunities can come straight out of the agility of ordinary objects and the imagination of extraordinary teachers.
The other day we went to the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, New Jersey, to spend an afternoon with their excellent docent team, looking carefully at a pretty motley selection of objects. We spent our time not with the stars of Montclair's outstanding collection of Native American artifacts but amongst its de-accessioned cast-offs, a mixture … Continue reading “Let’s talk art”
“Any object, intensely regarded, may be a gate of access to the incorruptible eon of the gods.” James Joyce, Ulysses Teaching with objects is powerful. It focuses attention, deepens inquiry and opens up unexpected avenues of exploration. It connects the student with the material world surrounding their studies and enables the sideways glance that can … Continue reading What is an Object? (Ridiculous Questions no.27)
In recent years, the Ashmolean, Oxford’s venerable University Museum, has found itself at the centre of a revolution. Adding to its long and distinguished history of teaching in Archaeology, Classics and History of Art, it has been playing regular host to students and their teachers in, among others, Medieval and Modern Languages, Geography, Oriental Studies, … Continue reading Objects at Oxford
agile objects 