AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

Durham University’s MA in Conservation of Archaeological and Museum Objects is a two-year program in which students learn to conserve and care for a range of materials commonly found in cultural heritage. During the first year, the students are taught on the Durham campus and the second year they spend on placement in a conservation laboratory at a major museum or cultural heritage institution in the UK or abroad. Over the last three years, we have been exploring the use of Digital Storytelling within the program’s curriculum as a tool for facilitating the student’s transition onto their placements and helping to develop their identities from “students” to “emerging conservators.” This paper will discuss our work and the pedagogical considerations in developing our approach and its placement within the arc of the program. We will discuss the use of digital storytelling as a tool that supports the evolution of a professional identity for developing conservators drawing on data gained from digital stories and reflections on learning by students. More significantly we will reflect on the surprises that we have encountered in this project, the alterations we have needed to make and the lessons that that has taught us about perception, connection, passion, and leadership in the field.