Our lives are bound up with objects. Museums are evidence of our deep preoccupation with the things that surround us, whether natural or the product of human endeavour. Why do we keep stuff, what do we learn from it – and what does our fascination for objects from our past tell us about being human today?
The humanities have been quick to embrace the potential of computer technology but universities have been reluctant to accept digital projects as bona fide scholarship. Katy Barrett, a PhD student at Cambridge’s Department of the History and Philosophy of Science, argues for a change in attitude.
In the recent riots looters made off with some of the items that have come to symbolise our materialistic society - trainers, track suits and flat screen televisions. Katy Barrett, who is doing a PhD in the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, is co-convening a series of seminars which will look at the powerful role that possessions play in society, past and present.
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