Museum categories profoundly affect scholarly knowledge claims in an A to Z of disciplines, from anthropology to zoology. Professor Ivan Gaskell’s fall 2012 seminar, “Tangible Things: Observing, Collecting, Sorting,” examined the formation and uses of nearly fifty methodical collections. In addition, participants built their own comprehensive collection in the same areas of enquiry. Every week, for ten weeks, the members brought an item to class relating to that week’s topic. The tenth week was for ambiguous objects and things hard to classify. All were very modest, preferably found or purchased for not more than $5. From January 15 - 24, the objects were displayed in “Making a World with One Hundred Things.”

Participants: Hadley Jensen, Suk Young Kang, Sarah Pickman, Sophie Pitman, Nicole Pulichene, Laura Speers, Edward Styles, Katherine Tycz, Meredyth Winter, and Professor Ivan Gaskell.