HSCI1555: Campus Obscura: A University of Minnesota Cabinet of Curiosities

Exploring museums and special collections on campus, this course will analyze the importance of material objects--maps, rare books, artifacts, instruments, specimens, manuscripts--in writing history, producing public exhibits, and creating identities. The University of Minnesota provides a rich resource for such exploration of objects that, collectively, have and continue to shape its history. Among other places, students will visit the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine, the Goldstein Museum of Design, the University Archives, and the Conservatory on the Saint Paul campus where experts will guide them in examining specific specimens and artifacts. Students will write short response papers at each visit, often on an object of their choice. The final collaborative group project will be based on one particular object (or group of objects) studied in detail by each student that will then become part of a digital StoryMap of the campus.

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