Leah Burgin, Manager of Museum Education and Programs

One of the ways the Haffenreffer Museum offers hands-on, creative learning opportunities with the collection is through the CultureLab, a teaching space in the public gallery at Manning Hall where classes can gather and engage with objects. During the pandemic, we worked together to transition CultureLab sessions—by nature, highly tactile and interactive experiences—into the virtual world of Zoom.

Starting in Fall 2020, the Museum offered virtual CultureLab sessions, teaching from images of objects available in the online catalogue. Initially, we were unsure how the CultureLab experience would translate to the screen but, after facilitating several sessions with faculty and students, we learned that objects can still inspire questions, conversations, and introspection, even on Zoom. While some elements of teaching with objects were lost in translation—the hands-on experience and a sense of scale, especially—other elements were gained. For example, teaching from high-resolution photographs allowed us to “zoom” in on object details students might otherwise have missed in the dimmer light of the CultureLab. We could teach with a wider range of objects, especially pieces too delicate to consider when teaching in person. And we were able to take advantage of Zoom’s collaborative tools, like the whiteboard function, to encourage students to respond to questions and contribute to discussions. 

Over the course of two academic years, the Museum has facilitated virtual CultureLab sessions for over 200 students in American Studies, Anthropology, English, Ethnic Studies, History, History of Art and Architecture departments at Brown, as well as Painting, Sculpture, and Jewelry and Metals departments at RISD.

 

Cover photography by Juan Arce