{"id":242,"date":"2026-10-13T02:28:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T02:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=242"},"modified":"2026-10-13T11:38:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T11:38:28","slug":"obl","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/chapter\/obl\/","title":{"rendered":"History through Objects or Material Culture"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>Overview<\/h2>\r\nThomas Kador argues <strong>\u201cThe term object-based learning (OBL) refers to any facilitated learning activity that draws on multisensory engagement with material culture.\u201d[footnote]Kador, Thomas.\u00a0Object-Based Learning: Exploring Museums and Collections in Education. UCL Press. 2025. https:\/\/discovery.ucl.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/10212322\/1\/Object-Based-Learning.pdf.[\/footnote] <\/strong>This overview explores how historians use objects as lenses into historical narratives. This methodology draws heavily on anthropology and archaeology.[footnote]Brook, Timothy. Vermeer\u2019s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009. ISBN 9781596915992[\/footnote]\r\n<h2>Case Study<\/h2>\r\nHistorian Timothy Brook demonstrates using objects as a lens into world history narratives in his 2008 book<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/Vermeer_s_Hat\/2avtJqYc1eMC?hl=en&amp;gbpv=0\"><em>Vermeer\u2019s Hat<\/em><\/a><span>. See this interview with Brook to understand his framework and background.\u00a0 <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.essentialvermeer.com\/interviews_newsletter\/brook_interview.html\">http:\/\/www.essentialvermeer.com\/interviews_newsletter\/brook_interview.html<\/a>. Brook's methods inspired the digital humanities project\u00a0<em>Essential Vermeer<\/em> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentialvermeer.com\/vermeer_painting_part_one.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interactive catalogue\u00a0<\/a> where scholars curate the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, creating clickable narratives that begin with the object.\r\n<h2>Reading<\/h2>\r\nMars, Roman and Neil MacGregor. \"From The World to America: Neil MacGregor meets Roman Mars.\"\u00a0<em>A History of the World in 100 Objects. <\/em>BBC and the British Museum. July 13, 2026. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p0nyhpl5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p0nyhpl5<\/a>. Listening time 35 minutes.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Mars, Roman.\u00a0<em>A History of the US in 100 Objects.<\/em> BBC. 2026. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio\/brand\/p0njg0dx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio\/brand\/p0njg0dx<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(review - no need to listen to whole series)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>MacGregor, Neil. <em>A History of the World in 100 Objects. <\/em>BBC and British Museum. 2010. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b00nrtf5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b00nrtf5<\/a> (review - no need to listen to whole series)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nDucady, Geralyn. \u201cUsing Objects in Teaching.\u201d <em>Process: A Blog for American History<\/em>. Organization of American Historians. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oah.org\/process\/using-objects-in-teaching\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.oah.org\/process\/using-objects-in-teaching\/<\/a>.\r\n\r\nKador, Thomas.\u00a0<em>Object-Based Learning: Exploring Museums and Collections in Education<\/em>. UCL Press. 2025. <a href=\"https:\/\/discovery.ucl.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/10212322\/1\/Object-Based-Learning.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/discovery.ucl.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/10212322\/1\/Object-Based-Learning.pdf.<\/a> (Review to get a sense of object-based learning practice)\r\n<div>\r\n<h3><\/h3>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<h2>Overview<\/h2>\n<p>Thomas Kador argues <strong>\u201cThe term object-based learning (OBL) refers to any facilitated learning activity that draws on multisensory engagement with material culture.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Kador, Thomas.\u00a0Object-Based Learning: Exploring Museums and Collections in Education. UCL Press. 2025. https:\/\/discovery.ucl.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/10212322\/1\/Object-Based-Learning.pdf.\" id=\"return-footnote-242-1\" href=\"#footnote-242-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> <\/strong>This overview explores how historians use objects as lenses into historical narratives. This methodology draws heavily on anthropology and archaeology.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Brook, Timothy. Vermeer\u2019s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009. ISBN 9781596915992\" id=\"return-footnote-242-2\" href=\"#footnote-242-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Case Study<\/h2>\n<p>Historian Timothy Brook demonstrates using objects as a lens into world history narratives in his 2008 book\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/books\/edition\/Vermeer_s_Hat\/2avtJqYc1eMC?hl=en&amp;gbpv=0\"><em>Vermeer\u2019s Hat<\/em><\/a>. See this interview with Brook to understand his framework and background.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.essentialvermeer.com\/interviews_newsletter\/brook_interview.html\">http:\/\/www.essentialvermeer.com\/interviews_newsletter\/brook_interview.html<\/a>. Brook&#8217;s methods inspired the digital humanities project\u00a0<em>Essential Vermeer<\/em> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.essentialvermeer.com\/vermeer_painting_part_one.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interactive catalogue\u00a0<\/a> where scholars curate the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, creating clickable narratives that begin with the object.<\/p>\n<h2>Reading<\/h2>\n<p>Mars, Roman and Neil MacGregor. &#8220;From The World to America: Neil MacGregor meets Roman Mars.&#8221;\u00a0<em>A History of the World in 100 Objects. <\/em>BBC and the British Museum. July 13, 2026. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p0nyhpl5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p0nyhpl5<\/a>. Listening time 35 minutes.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mars, Roman.\u00a0<em>A History of the US in 100 Objects.<\/em> BBC. 2026. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio\/brand\/p0njg0dx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/audio\/brand\/p0njg0dx<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(review &#8211; no need to listen to whole series)<\/li>\n<li>MacGregor, Neil. <em>A History of the World in 100 Objects. <\/em>BBC and British Museum. 2010. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b00nrtf5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b00nrtf5<\/a> (review &#8211; no need to listen to whole series)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ducady, Geralyn. \u201cUsing Objects in Teaching.\u201d <em>Process: A Blog for American History<\/em>. Organization of American Historians. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oah.org\/process\/using-objects-in-teaching\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.oah.org\/process\/using-objects-in-teaching\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kador, Thomas.\u00a0<em>Object-Based Learning: Exploring Museums and Collections in Education<\/em>. UCL Press. 2025. <a href=\"https:\/\/discovery.ucl.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/10212322\/1\/Object-Based-Learning.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/discovery.ucl.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/10212322\/1\/Object-Based-Learning.pdf.<\/a> (Review to get a sense of object-based learning practice)<\/p>\n<div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-242-1\">Kador, Thomas.\u00a0Object-Based Learning: Exploring Museums and Collections in Education. UCL Press. 2025. https:\/\/discovery.ucl.ac.uk\/id\/eprint\/10212322\/1\/Object-Based-Learning.pdf. <a href=\"#return-footnote-242-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-242-2\">Brook, Timothy. Vermeer\u2019s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009. ISBN 9781596915992 <a href=\"#return-footnote-242-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":107,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["srose"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[60],"license":[],"class_list":["post-242","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-srose"],"part":66,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/242\/revisions\/249"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/66"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/242\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=242"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=242"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/historicalthinkingandhistoriography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}