The team of the Medical Collection of the University of Zurich, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM) is pleased to announce a Mini Symposium titled "Object-based learning – Studying and teaching with Medical University Collections".
The Mini Symposium will take place in Zurich on May 13, 2025, from 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM on Campus Irchel, University of Zurich, Building Y10 Room G-03/04.
Online participation via Zoom will also be available. To register, please contact the head of collections, Sabina Carraro sabina.carraro@iem.uzh.ch.
All presentations will be held in English.
Historical object collections carry the promise of opening pathways to the past. The material turn is well-established in the humanities and cultural sciences, and object-based learning now plays an important role in the communication of museum and collection knowledge. What all these approaches have in common is the fascination with historical objects. The IEM Mini Symposium 2025 offers a platform to discuss the significance and benefits of medical historical objects for innovative university teaching.
We understand the ‘fascination of things’ as both a challenge and an opportunity: Does the idea of ‘direct access’ to the past encounter a peculiar resistance from the objects, which manifests itself in their limited tangibility and describability? Or does the ‘fascination of things’ lie in part precisely in this limitation? The Mini Symposium deliberately addresses this problem and poses the question of how objects in collections can be used for innovative approaches in university teaching.
Speakers will discuss the significance, benefits and potential of medical history artefacts in university teaching. In their contributions, they will explore the question of how object-based learning can be effectively organised. Drawing on their wealth of experience, they will share valuable insights and practical approaches.
12:30 – 13:00 Sabina Carraro, Head of Medical Collections, Sophie Ledebur PhD, Theresa Bayer PhD, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich: Hands on! Object-based learning and teaching in the Medical, Human Remains and Moulage Collection at University of Zurich.
13:00 – 13:30 Prof. Monika Ankele PhD, Director Museum for Medical History, Charité Berlin: Arts and medicine in dialogue. An exhibition-based seminar.
13:30 – 14:00 Prof. Luciano Saso PhD, Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Academic Guest at the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich: Innovative pedagogies in health professions programs: museum-based learning.
14:00 – 14:30 Coffee break
14:30 – 15:00 Claudia Rütsche PhD, Director Kulturama Museum of Human Evolution Zurich: Why object-based learning leaves a deep impression. Our findings from thousands of workshops in the Kulturama Museum of Human Evolution.
15:00 – 15:30 Sara Doll PhD, Preparator, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Heidelberg: Human specimens in the classroom. A presentation from a preparator's perspective.
15:30 – 15:50 Coffee break
15:50 – 16:20 Manuel Kaiser PhD, Head Medical Collection, University of Bern: A Single Object or a Whole Set of Objects? Possibilities of Object-Based Knowledge Transfer Using the Example of the History of Ventilation and Hip Prosthetics.
16:15 – 17:00 Keynote talk: Liz Blanks MA, Curator, Science Collections, University College London: The curatorial experience of object-based learning practices.
17:00 – 18:00 Apéro