UNIVERSITY OF STRASBOURG Jardin des Sciences MAY 2016

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1 st UNIVERSEUM 1 TRAINING WORKSHOP REVEALING UNIVERSITY OBJECTS: FROM THE ATTICS TO THE PUBLIC UNIVERSITY OF STRASBOURG Jardin des Sciences MAY 2016

2 University collections are diverse and range from pedagogical models to human body parts, from mounted animals to plaster casts, from maps to scientific illustrations and sketches, from fossils to scientific instruments, from manuscripts to paintings, among so many others. This diversity and complexity presents great challenges for their conservation and their valorisation to professionals in charge of U- collections. Universeum's 1 st Training Workshop is based on the active engagement of participants, rather than traditional lessons by experts. It will be hands- on, interdisciplinary and debate- oriented. It aims at deconstructing the different processes involved in the identification, study, preservation and display of U- objects and collections. Participants will engage directly with objects and exchange in dialogue with conservators, curators, researchers and communication designers. Group work will alternate with collective discussions in order to enhance each participant s knowledge and skills. Objectives On successful completion of the course, students should: 1. Be able to discuss the nature and complexity of university collections and associated information. 2. Consolidate curatorial, conservation and public interpretation skills, practices and terminology. 3. Understand the issues around the management, study, conservation and public interpretation of university collections. 4. Be able to use basic material culture methods of object study. 5. Understand the process of asking questions about objects, searching for answers and planning a pubic activity, as well as methods, skills, reference literature and sources involved. 6. Be able to articulate interdisciplinary approaches to object study (e.g. curatorial, aesthetical, functional, historical, social, symbolic), integrating them successfully into documentation systems and public programmes. 7. Understand the role of different professionals historians, scientists, designers, curators, conservators, registrars in the care and public interpretation of university collections. 2

3 PROGRAMME MONDAY REVEALING OBJECTS WARM UP EXERCISE 23 May 9.00 Opening and general presentation of the Workshop Sofia Talas, Marta C. Lourenço, Roland Wittje & Sébastien Soubiran, UNIVERSEUM Asking questions about objects (plenary session) Asking even more questions about objects (plenary session) Experts: Frédérique Boura (Conservateur général du patrimoine, archaeologist), Charlotte Biggs (historian), Ludovic Chauwin (registrar/conservator), Delphine Issenman (curator), Natalia Moutinho (designer), Sébastien Soubiran (historian/curator), Sofia Talas (historian/curator) Debate and wrap up TUESDAY REVEALING OBJECTS: ASKING QUESTIONS 24 May 9.00 Introduction 9.30 Group work with selected objects from the collections of the Strasbourg Group summaries Chair: Sofia Talas Visits to collections of the Strasbourg WEDNESDAY REVEALING OBJECTS: EXPLORING ANSWERS 25 May 9.00 Introduction 9.30 Group work with objects from the collections of the Strasbourg (part I) Support team: Documentation and sources: Delphine Issenmann Group work with objects from the collections of the Strasbourg (Part II) Support team: Documentation and sources: Delphine Issenmann Summary and debate 3

4 THURSDAY REVEALING OBJECTS: MAKING THINGS PUBLIC 26 May 9.00 Introduction Chairs: Sébastien Soubiran & Sofia Talas 9.30 Developing a project for broader audiences based on the objects from the collections of the Strasbourg (part I) Support team: Design & Communication: Natalia Moutinho Developing a project for broader audiences based on the objects from the collections of the Strasbourg (part II) Support team: Design & Communication: Natalia Moutinho FRIDAY REVEALING OBJECTS: GROUP PRESENTATIONS 27 May 9.00 Introduction Chairs: Sébastien Soubiran & Sofia Talas Presentations (part I) GROUPS 1 and Presentations (part II) GROUPS 1 and Summary and closing debate Sofia Talas, Marta C. Lourenço, Roland Wittje & Sébastien Soubiran 4

5 SUPPORT TEAM : DELPHINE ISSENMANN Delphine Issenmann trained as historian, historian of art and cultural heritage management. She completed her training with a master in history of science and science studies in Strasbourg. Collections manager at the Jardin des sciences of the Strasbourg, she coordinated the general inventory of scientific instruments since She is in charge of the coordination of events within the university like Museum nights, European heritage days and European academic heritage day. She is also studying the architectural heritage of the historical campus. She is co- editor and co- author of the collective book, L Université impériale de Strasbourg; le site de la Porte des Pêcheurs, Lieux- Dits, Lyon, She is currently working on the renovation of the seismological museum and co- curated the temporary exhibition Sismo Strasbourg- a earth laboratory. She is co- responsible of the Database working group of Universeum. MARTA C. LOURENCO Deputy Director, Researcher and Chief- Curator of the historical collections and heritage at the MUHNAC (Museums of the Lisbon), Marta C. Lourenço has background training in Physics ( Lisbon), a Masters in Museology (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and a PhD in Museology and History of Technology (CNAM, Paris). She is PI of PRISC (Portuguese Research Infrastructure of Scientific Collections), included in the national roadmap of strategic research infrastructures. Marta C. Lourenço is Vice- President of UNIVERSEUM (European Network for University Heritage) and a Board member of the History of Physics Group (European Physical Society) and the Scientific Instruments Commission (International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science). SEBASTIEN SOUBIRAN Sébastien Soubiran is deputy- director of the Jardin des sciences, a cultural department of the Strasbourg in charge of the coordination of the preservation and the valorization of the university s museum and collections and the development of general public scientific outreach. He trained as historian of science in Paris and Oxford. His research combines the social history of twentieth century physics and earth science (in particular the relationship between science, industry and the military) and the relationship between scientific communities and their heritage. He has co- published a book and written eight articles related to academic heritage. He teaches history of science, history of museums and scientific heritage in master classes in Strasbourg. He joined Universeum network in 2005, was elected secretary of the interim executive Committee in 2010 and Secretary of Universeum executive Committee in SOFIA TALAS Sofia Talas is curator of the Museum of the History of Physics at the Padua, Italy. She trained as a physicist and an historian of physics at the Universities of Geneva, Switzerland, and Padua. Her researches focus on the history of scientific instruments, history of physics, and history of collections. She has published papers and books on these topics. She has coordinated didactical and research projects, and has organised several events and exhibitions in Padua, among these The future of Galileo (Padua, 2009). She has worked on the historical 5

6 teaching physics collections held by several secondary schools of the Veneto Region. She is currently in charge of a survey of historical scientific objects and collections at the Padua. She teaches at the Masters in Communication of Sciences and within the Teacher Training Program of the Padua. She is Board member of the History of Physics Group of the European Physical Society from 2009, and member of the International Advisory Board of the Centre for the History of Science of Stockholm Royal Academy of Sciences from She has been President of UNIVERSEUM, the European Academic Heritage Network, since ROLAND WITTJE Roland Wittje teaches history of science and technology at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Chennai. He has studied physics and history of science at the Carl von Ossietzky Oldenburg and the Norwegian Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, and taught at the History of Science Unit of the Regensburg, Germany from 2007 to His approach to instruments and scientific practice has been shaped through the method of re- working historical experiments. In Trondheim, Roland has curated a collection of historical scientific instruments and several exhibitions, among these "Reverberations: Science, Music and Mass Media in the Age of Electroacoustics" (2007), and carried out a survey of historical objects and collections at NTNU. He has been a visiting researcher at the Deutsches Museum (2007), the Science Museum (2011), and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (2015 and currently). He has worked on the history of nuclear physics, science education, acoustics, and university heritage. In 2011, he published the edited volume "Learning by Doing: Instruments and Experiments in the History of Science Teaching", together with Peter Heering. His new book "The Age of Electroacoustics: Transforming Science and Sound" will appear in November this year. Roland is Vice- President of Universeum since 2011 and chairs its Working Group on Recent Heritage of Science. EXPERTS : CHARLOTTE BIGG Charlotte Bigg is an historian of science at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/ Centre Alexandre Koyré, Paris. She has published widely on the social and cultural history of the chemical, physical and astronomical sciences in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her work focuses especially on the elaboration of optical instruments and visual cultures in scientific practice and their circulation among a range of audiences. Together with Jochen Hennig, she curated the exhibition Atombilder: Sichtbarmachung des Atoms im 20. Jahrhundert at the Deutsches Museum, Munich ( ). An outcome of this reflection is the edited volume Atombilder. Ikonografie des Atoms in Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit des 20. Jahrhunderts (Wallstein, 2009). Charlotte is currently a visiting fellow of the Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung in Berlin where she plans to complete a book manuscript entitled Photography and Astronomy, to appear in Reaktion Books' Exposure series. FREDERIQUE BOURA Frédérique Boura is conservatrice générale du patrimoine, currently head of the department in charge of the general inventory of cultural heritage in France attached to the French Ministry of culture and communication. From 2010 to 2015, she was deputy director of the regional cultural affairs directorates of Lorraine. She trained as a proto- historian archaeologist and 6

7 worked in regional archaeological services of Lorraine and Burgundy. She developed a specific interest in recent past archaeology like the Great War and also in historical garden. Working at the regional department of general inventory in Alsace, she enlarged her research interests to other heritage fields like architecture, industrial heritage, academic collections or the shaping of cultural landscapes. She published many articles and co- directed books on her various fields of research. LUDOVIC CHAUWIN, Ludovic Chauwin is head registrar of the museum network of Strasbourg which includes 10 museums with collections from archeological to contemporary art. He is managing the incoming and outgoing loans, shipping, and insurance and his responsible for the long- term preservation and for the risk management of the collections. Ludovic Chauwin is the project manager of the future Conservation and Storage Facility for the 10 Museums of Strasbourg. His skills in conservation is based on 20 years of professional experience, University degrees, regular training and professional networking. He is a board member of the French Association of Registrar NATHALIA MOUTINHO, Nathalia Moutinho is a designer. She is specialized in the creation of spaces and objects for cultural projects. She trained in Barcelona at Elisava school with the designer Isao Hosoe and at the decorative art school of Strasbourg. She created her own agency to assist cultural and touristic projects such as museum, eco- museum, interpretation centers, educative center to nature and environment, temporary and permanent exhibitions. Since 2006, Nathalia Moutinou is also teaching design courses at the decorative art school of Strasbourg (HEAR). She is a funding member of of the association Oppidumsis, a network of study offices working on cultural and heritage projects. 7

8 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS EUGENIO BERTOZZI Humbolt Research fellow, physicist, historian of physics MARGHERITA BONGIOVANI Curator, architect JENNY BULSTRODE Doctoral Student TRICIA CLOSE- KOENIG Researcher, historian of science PATRICIA COSTA Museologist, head of documentation and culture CRISTIANA COSTA- VIEIRA Herbarium research curator, Biologist JAMES HOPKINS heritage manager, historian SOLENE LELLINGER Doctoral student IVANA MITROVIC Curator, archeologist REBECCA J.C. PRENTICE Assistant curator KRISTEL WAUTIER Curator, biologist Europa- Universität, Flensburg, GERMANY Turin Polytechnic Museum, ITALY Dpt of History and Philosophy of Science Cambridge and National Maritime Museum (Greenwich), UK Research dpt of history of life science and medicine, Strasbourg, FRANCE School of engineering- Politechnic of Porto, PORTUGAL Natural history Museum Herbarium, Porto, PORTUGAL Manchester, UK dpt of history of life science and medicine, Strasbourg, FRANCE Museum of sport, Belgrade, SERBIA St- Andrews, UK Ghent University, BELGIUM flensburg.de polito.it er.ac.uk andrews.ac.uk 8

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