Chloe Chapin (Department of History)
First-Year Seminar 66M (Fall Term) Enrollment: Limited to 12
Tuesday, 12:00-2:45pm CANVAS SITE
Harvard’s libraries, museums, and archives are some of the oldest and largest in the world, with more than 2 million museum objects, 20 million books, 22 million specimens, and 400 million manuscript items. Why does Harvard have so many things? In this class, we will explore the history, culture, and purpose of Harvard through its collections. We will put our in-person examination of material objects in conversation with current thinking on relationships between humans, things, and places. In weekly field trips to Harvard museums, libraries, and archives, we will conduct in-person, (sometimes) hands-on examinations of first editions, extinct animals, revolutionary technology, art masterpieces, maps of ancient worlds, personal diaries, homework assignments from former Harvard students, and everyday objects that people around the world made, used, loved, and lost.
In this class, you will be asked to create a proposal for your own museum exhibition, using objects and archival material to tell your own story. Short weekly assignments will help you build skills in archival research, object analysis, developing research questions, academic writing, and editing. By thinking through things, you will also develop strategies for asking questions about who and what have not been collected.