Postgraduate Course: Objects, Place and Stories (BIME11198)
Course Outline
| School | Deanery of Biomedical Sciences |
College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Objects, Place and Stories is a 10 credit elective course for the on-campus MSc in Science Communication and Public Engagement. Through in-person seminars and field-trips, the course will explore the role of objects and place in science communication and the stories we craft about them.
On completing this course, students will be able to:
- Apply contemporary theories of material culture and place to science communication and public engagement.
- Critically reflect on and develop their own object- and place-based science communication and public engagement practice.
- Effectively communicate best practices in object- and place-based engagement with professional peers.
Topics covered will include:
- The role that objects play in science communication and public engagement, drawing on a toolbox of concepts including object biographies, boundary objects and affordance theory.
- Place-based public engagement through the lens of place theory and place-attachment.
- The politics of displaying objects in science centres and museums.
The course itself will be "emplaced", making the most of local resources such as the National Museum of Scotland and Holyrood Park, while also drawing on global perspectives through the examination of international case studies.
It will draw on a range of interdisciplinary concepts which will help students make sense of contemporary practice and position students at the cutting edge of this exciting, emerging area.
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| Course description |
Objects, Place and Stories is a 10 credit elective course for the on-campus MSc in Science Communication and Public Engagement. It consists of five sessions - each lasting 2-3 hours - delivered through a mix of in-person seminars and local field trips.
The course will position students at the cutting edge of science communication and public engagement theory and practice. It aims to provide students with an awareness and critical understanding of the main concepts and theories around objects and place as relevant to science communication and public engagement (SCPE), and how they can be used to craft compelling story narratives. It will introduce students to cross-disciplinary perspectives from fields such as Museum Studies, Cultural Geography, and Education, and explore how they are currently manifesting and being transformed within the discipline. In doing so, the course will draw on a range of real-world case studies to demonstrate the interplay between, and ethics of, objects and place in SC&PE.
Indeed, the course itself will be "emplaced", making the most of local resources such as the National Museum of Scotland and Holyrood Park, while also drawing on global perspective through the examination of international case studies. On completion of the course students will be able to appropriately utilise concepts relating to object and place to develop their own SC&PE practice as well as confidently engage in dialogue with fellow practitioners on the topic.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Students will have a critical understanding of cross-disciplinary perspectives on objects and place and their related stories with respect to SCPE theory and practice.
- Students will be able to appropriately utilise concepts relating to objects and place to develop their SCPE practice. In doing so they will draw on a range of real-world case studies demonstrating the interplay between objects and place and the stories associated with them.
- Students will be able to apply concepts and ideas across different practice contexts, learning from experienced practitioners through effective engagement with them.
- Students will be able to effectively communicate ideas and stories about objects and place from a SCPE perspective with a range of audiences.
- Students will be able to critically analyse the ethics of object and place-based SCPE - drawing on global perspectives.
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Reading List
Boon, T. (2011) A Walk in the Museum with Michel de Certeau: A Conceptual Helping Hand for Museum Practitioners. Curator: The Museum Journal, 54: 419-429.
Chen, L. (2017) "The performative space for city identity narrative: A case study of Suzhou Museum", Communication and the Public, 2 (1), pp. 52-66.
Cresswell, T. (2014) Place: an introduction. John Wiley & Sons.
Davies, S. and Horst, M. (2016) Science Communication. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 7: Images, Spaces, and Emotions.
Gosden, C. and Marshall, Y. (1999) The cultural biography of objects, World Archaeology, 31:2, 169-178.
Haywood, B.K. (2014) A "Sense of Place" in Public Participation in Scientific Research. Sci. Ed., 98: 64-83
NCCPE (2019) Achieving equity in place-based research, innovation and public engagement. Summary Report. NCCPE
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical thinking, research and inquiry, personal and intellectual autonomy, communication skills. |
| Keywords | science communication,public engagement,objects,place,stories,place-based,cross-disciplinary |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Elizabeth Stevenson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3258
Email: E.Stevenson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Andrew Le Tissier
Tel: (0131 6)51 4075
Email: Andrew.LeTissier@ed.ac.uk |
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