Stories, Skills, Objects: A Digital Cabinet for Anthropology

In 2022, the Stories, Skills, and Objects project invited doctoral researchers at Oxford to learn about approaches and tools for facilitating in-person and virtual engagement with museum audiences. Researchers attended a series of engagement skills workshops, working with object collections at the Pitt Rivers and Ashmolean Museums.

By working directly with museum staff, post-graduate researchers considered current approaches in the interpretation of museum objects, such as thinking through a decolonial lens and telling diverse stories about the histories of objects through multiple voices. Participants also explored materials and cultural practice through objects and how material culture can be relatable in the interdisciplinary stories that museums tell diverse audiences. The cohort then developed content for the Cabinet platform including written content, 3D models of collection objects provided by Bodleian photogrammetry team, and short videos about the objects and their connection to researchers’ work.

Explore a selection of our participants' work below!

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The SSO project was a collaborative effort by:

SSD/SAME Staff: Francesca Richards, Research Impact Facilitator
SAME Staff: David Pratten, Head of School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography
Pitt Rivers Museum Staff: Ashley Coutu, Deputy Head of Research; Jozie Kettle, Public Engagement with Research; Kathy Clough, Digital Engagement Officer
Ashmolean Staff: Jim Harris, Teaching Curator
Oxford Internet Institute Staff: Kathryn Eccles, Associate Professor in Digital Culture and Heritage
Bodleian Staff: Richard Smith, Technology Support Office
Educational Media Services: Karen Carey, Media Producer