Minerals, Museums, and Western Colonialism 360° Info Session

Learn about this two-course cluster exploring the scientific and museological contexts of the College's mineral collection. Applications due Wednesday, April 6 at noon at brynmawr.edu/360.

The science of Geology developed rapidly in the second half of the 19th century, partly accelerated by the influx of rocks and minerals from areas of the world that Western nations were colonizing. Those specimens–which often came from mineral deposits that both motivated and funded Western invasions, and were often brought to the surface by Indigenous laborers working in colonial contexts–now form the historical backbone of many Western mineral collections, including Bryn Mawr’s. As Geology reckons with its past and present social roles, a central question for such collections becomes: how can we center these specimens’ human histories, rather than continue to ignore them? This 360° will examine that question in the context of Bryn Mawr College’s mineral collection: more than 40,000 specimens, most of which were sampled in the mid- to late-19th century. Students will read and discuss papers related to the history of geology, examining the ways that the early history of Geology was intertwined with Western colonialism and imperialism. Students will also work directly with the Bryn Mawr mineral collection, applying our in-class discussions to our own institution’s objects, and will travel to other mineral collections that are reckoning with their own histories in different ways.