Teaching Initiatives

The Chipstone Foundation actively uses its collections to teach students of
all ages in Wisconsin and around the world through our videos and online
resources.

Object Lab

Object Lab is a four-day, all expenses paid, material studies program for
third and fourth year undergraduate students. It exposes participants to
new and diverse means of interacting with, studying, and analyzing
material things. Since 2009, the program has brought together a range of
students and scholars from the fields of Art History, History, History of
Science, Archeology, Literature, and Art, as well as practicing artists and
manufacturers. Students learn through engagement with scholars, artists,
and manufacturers as well as from hands-on exposure to objects from the
collections of the Chipstone Foundation and other museums. Object Lab
takes place annually in May or June. An online application is available
from late February through March. Selected students will be invited to
have a telephone interview.

Material Culture Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a national center for the study of
the material world. The Material Culture Program brings together faculty
and students from across the university. It trains students to study all
aspects of the material world and the built environment to prepare them
for a wide range of careers in museums, historical sites, and schools. The
Foundation supports this program through student assistantships, grants,
and a faculty appointment, the Stanley and Polly Stone Professor of
American Decorative Arts, Prof. Ann Smart Martin, a specialist in early
American material culture and the history of consumption.

University Teaching

The Chipstone Curator has a teaching appointment in Art History at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2013, the Foundation expanded this
role to include other collaborations. The current Chipstone Curator is
team-teaching a large undergraduate course on Tangible Things with Prof.
Laurel Ulrich at Harvard University. This course is also the foundation for
an interdisciplinary book to be published by Oxford University Press. They
are creating an innovative version of the course online through HarvardX,
a division of EdX, to make the program available for free to students
around the world. The goal of this collaboration is to teach students of all
ages how to look closely at and find meaning in material things.

Classroom Outreach

Some Chipstone projects are designed to support elementary and high
school teaching. Discover free classroom resources, including lesson plans
and teaching videos related to The Dave Project.