You will choose a theme related to the history (timeline open) of the Silk Road around which to organize your digital museum exhibit. Some examples: coins, interfaith encounters, multilingual contexts, food, spices, paper-making technology, marriage, monasteries, a particular site, a direction of travel, a type of traveler, or a more abstract notion such as a color. You may continue to refine and narrow your theme as you work: for example, if you choose the theme “religion,” it will probably by the end of the project become much more specific—perhaps you will end up focusing on, for example, religious architecture or ritual objects or a particular religion, etc. At this early date, however, you must have selected your theme at least in broad outline so that you can begin to work. Everyone in the class must choose a different theme so as to avoid overlap, although everyone’s themes will relate closely. We will list your themes on a google doc so you can see each other’s choices.
You should make an appointment to meet with one or the other of us to discuss your project. Email us in advance with some ideas about what themes or topics might interest you so that we can guide you in this meeting. We will ask that you meet with us a second time after Spring Break so that we can continue to work with you as your project develops.
You will select four material objects that exist and have been digitized about which you can find scholarly research connected to your theme. The final project will describe and analyze these objects on individual object pages, which will be analyzed within a brief (ca. 750 word) framing essay about your theme, how it relates to the study of the Silk Roads, and how the objects illuminate that theme.
The internet is filled with digitized images of historical objects and museum websites with images and information. Here are a few commonly used ones that have free-to-use images with extensive digitization of their collections:
You may also find useful images on such sites as:
You will compile a scholarly bibliography related both to the objects and the theme you have chosen. This bibliography will consist of scholarly articles, book chapters, or books about the specific objects and the overall theme. You must find at least two academic, scholarly secondary sources for each object you choose and at least two for the general theme. On this date, you will submit an initial annotated bibliography. This means that for each of the citations you have found, you will write one or two sentences about how the source will help you understand that the object illustrates larger historical developments. You may continue to develop your bibliography as the semester progresses. The complete bibliography will appear within the final exhibit submission.
If you have questions about what an “academic” or “scholarly” source is, please ask us. Wikipedia is not one, although it can lead you to good references and often is the source of excellent fair-use images and good basic contextual information.
You must visit the Amaranth lab at least once before the in-class presentation and meet with the graduate assistant, Jonathan Seyfried. He will give you a note confirming that you met and discussed your project, which you will submit to us by April 6. You can make an appointment by finding their bookings page here: https://amaranth.unm.edu/collaborate. There are drop-in studio hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, all of which are listed on that page. You may, of course, wish to meet with him more than once this semester.
Students will briefly introduce the rest of the class to their theme, four objects, and initial ideas about how those objects relate to the themes and ideas of the class and to their own specific project. These presentations are informal and very brief (about 5 minutes). By midnight of the day prior (April 5), you must have sent a “pull request” to merge your object pages to the main Github page.
Your final version of the framing thematic essay (ca. 750 words) and all four object pages (ca. 400-500 words each) will be complete, edited, and fully cited and fully uploaded to the class Github page.