Abstract
This project aims to enrich the history Department’s new Western history curriculum and the teaching of non-Chinese culture in general by building, housing, cataloguing and publicizing a mini-museum of several dozen ethically sourced replicas of representative material culture from the last two thousand years. These will be held in Special Collections and will be catalogued by a student helper hired for this purpose. In this way, this project aims to create a permanent resource for the teaching of Western and world history at CUHK and thereby contribute to internationalization at home and cross-cultural competence. This will also complement the Chinese collections of the CUHK University Art Museum, and open up the possibility for comparative (East-West) teaching activities.
Based on similar collections and teaching techniques used at major international universities, the collection and the courses will include structured classes centred on the objects as well as two assessments (one compulsory and one optional) that will require students to draw on them. As the collection will be useful for colleagues teaching outside the history department, we will also organize an event to publicize the collection, which will include outside visitors who will help bring the objects to life.
Brief write-up
Project objectives
• To create a collection of reproductions of objects from pre-modern Western history (up to c. 1600).
• To produce a digital/print catalogue of the collection and online video introduction.
• To make the collection and catalogue available for classroom teaching at CUHK, especially in World History courses.
Activities, process and outcomes
• Identified and acquired a collection of 49 museum-quality replicas of items from pre-modern Western history.
• Recruited and trained six student helpers to produce a digital/print catalogue.
• Established the collection in the University Library Special Collections.
• Used in three World History courses in 2021–22.
• Produced an online video introduction to the collection.
Deliverables and evaluation
• Successfully integrated collection into three World History courses in 2021–22.
• Produced a digital/print catalogue and online video introduction.
• Evaluated success through student survey: 69.2% overall rated it as ‘Very Good’ (4) and 30.8% as ‘Excellent’ (5).
Dissemination, diffusion, impact and sharing of good practices
• Collection was used in teaching three World History courses in 2021–22.
• An online video introduction to the collection on YouTube.
• Informal sharing with colleagues.
Impact on teaching and learning
Trial classes involving the collection were conducted in three courses in the academic year 2021–22: HIST4304JM “West and the World II: The Middle Ages” (Term 1); HIST4391 “West and the World I: Antiquity” (Term 2); and HIST4393 “West and the World III: Early Modernity” (Term 2, 2021–22). Feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting a high level of engagement and satisfaction with the learning experience.
