Students taking the Level 3 ‘Making History Public’ module have had the opportunity to participate in workshops examining the University’s Heritage Collections. They have been a collaborative initiative between the Department of History and Emily Green, the University’s Heritage Collections Manager. Emily has kindly run a series of these workshops, enabling students to visit the Heritage Collections based in the Portobello Centre.
Students learned about how the various objects and artefacts are stored and displayed across the university. They also had the opportunity to interact with some of the items held in the collections, and consider the information that would need to be included when displaying them.
This involved thinking about where the object might be displayed across campus, who the audience viewing the object might be, and how the item may need to be protected if particularly delicate; allowing students to see how ‘Making History Public’ works in a very real world context!
Students were also able to speak to Emily about working in the Heritage sector, as many of them are considering it as a potential career option following their History degree. Emily answered questions about what working in the sector was like, and how she took her first steps into her career.
Thanks to Emily, and the students who attended, for making these workshops enjoyable and informative for all involved! We aim to continue this collaboration going forward into the next academic year.