Professor of Religious Studies S.B. Rodriguez-Plate recently gave a talk at Utrecht University in the Netherlands in which they discussed experiential- and material-based learning. “How to Teach with Things,” was presented to a group of researchers across fields in religious studies, art history, anthropology, philosophy, and history. Many of the faculty and students are involved with a university-wide project in “Cultural Heritage and Identity.”
Offering a series of ideas, examples, and challenges for “how we teach on, about, with, and through material culture,” Rodriguez-Plate engaged in extensive dialogue with faculty and graduate students.
From 3D printing to podcasts, museum visits to libraries, Rodriguez-Plate said there are many ways to think about and use objects in classrooms in ways that go beyond reading books about objects. They pulled from their own experiences of teaching at Hamilton, including bringing students to the Wellin Museum, the Burke Library Special Collections, and religious rituals in downtown Utica, and also using everyday objects in classroom spaces as a point of reflection.
