Collecting the World 

Collecting the World was an honors seminar where Art History professor Chris Platts took myself and my classmates on in-person tours of various collections around UC's campus. There we got to learn from each of the objects we saw hands on and first hand, while also hearing directly from the very people in charge of these collections. During the class we not only took these trips, but had class discussions about collecting as a practice, what it means to people, and in what ways we can learn from the objects we collect. 

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What some people might not know is that various departments at UC are in possession of a lot of extremely interesting and rare historical objects and artifacts. Medieval illuminated manuscripts, ancient pottery shards, different rocks and fossils, fine art, historical theatre costumes, a period room of a 16th century chemistry lab, and so much more. There is a wealth of information about our past as a university and as a culture in these items. 

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The way this seminar impacted me the most is getting to interact with these collections in person, and experiencing them more closely to how they might have been experienced in their time. It gives you a sense of the humanity in these objects, and the evolution of style and function as time went on. It was also an honor to hear from experts of each field such as Dr. William Jensen, Dr. Jeff Tillman, Craig Dietsch, and Dr. Eric Tepe to name only a few. Each of these people have stories that are not only related to the field they work in, but are related to UC as an institution, which gives me a heightened appreciation for this community that I am a part of. 
 

I have attached just a few images of some of the artifacts that we got to see during our time. I have also included images of my final project, which was an artistic rendition based on the cover and two spreads of medieval illuminated manuscripts which were some of my favorite finds during the tours.