Infinity Internship

A post by Learning Coordinator Charlotte Spink and Infinity Intern Ailsa

In early summer 2022, I was approached by the Careers & Enterprise and Disability Support Service to join their Infinity Internship Programme. Infinity places Durham University students with autism in paid internships both inside and outside the University with the aim of benefitting both parties. The programme aims to access a pool of often untapped talent, promote diversity and inclusion and develop students’ knowledge and skills.

Applicants go through an application and recruitment process to ensure they are a good fit for the host organisation. In July our first Infinity Intern – Ailsa – arrived at the Oriental Museum.

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Welcome to Durham University Things To Do!

Earlier this year, after many months of planning and preparation, we launched our new Things To Do website! After undergoing a bit of a revamp, we wanted our new website to provide information about all our wonderful venues, research and learning and engagement, all in one place!

Our museums, collections and venues welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and are home to more than 100,000 objects from over 60 countries worldwide. Our new website was developed to showcase each of our venues and to make it easy to plan your visit to our sites.

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Work Placement at the Bill Bryson Library

A post by Vicky Bishop

I am a student on the MA Museum and Artefact Studies course, and one of the course requirements is to complete a 20 day work placement. I have been lucky enough to spend my work placement with the great team at the Billy B. This may seem strange – surely the library is not a museum? – but actually there are a lot of similarities for they both hold collections which are available (in different ways, granted) for public consumption and research, and there are many shared professional skillsets and practices. The university recognises this synergy, for the university’s libraries and museums are part of the same directorate: University Libraries and Collections, or ULC for short. 

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Upcoming Student Exhibition: Throwing it Out There 

A post by Ellie Rylance, Megan Shannon, and Perry Li

A team of twelve students from the MA Museum and Artefact Studies course in the University’s Department of Archaeology are working to produce an exhibition which will be opening in the Museum of Archaeology on the 16th June. ‘Throwing it Out There: The Archaeology of Ritual, Rivers and Rubbish’ will focus on the rich ritual history of the rivers of County Durham from the Bronze Age to the medieval period and beyond.

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Celebrating Holi

A post by Charlotte Spink, (Learning Coordinator), Poorva Batra and Kai

On Saturday 11 March the Oriental Museum celebrated the Indian festival of Holi. This year the weather was against us: freezing temperatures, snow and ice blanketed Durham, but we did not let that prevent us from hosting a wonderful indoor event, full of the joys of spring with musical performances, art activities and a retelling of the classic story of Prahlad and Holika.

Museum staff worked alongside Durham University student volunteers to deliver the event and I’d like to introduce to two of them here.

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Gary Bankhead and the River Wear Assemblage at the Museum of Archaeology

A post by Gemma Lewis, Curator (Museum of Archaeology and Biosciences)

Since 2008, Gary Bankhead has been diving under Elvet Bridge in Durham City, bringing to the surface over 13,500 objects. The objects date from the 12th century to the modern day, although the majority date to the 17th century. The objects range from dentures to pilgrim badges, and from a toy of Homer Simpson to Tudor buttons. The collection has been described as ‘a major research facility, probably the largest collection of late- and post-medieval finds in the North of England: a unique regional/national resource’. In 2010, Gary created the Dive into Durham project, to research, catalogue and display this important assemblage of objects. To date, Gary has uncovered 454 buttons, 36 pieces of ammunition, 329 buckles, 344 cloth seals, 512 (pre-decimal) coins, 149 trade tokens, 3,459 brass pins, and many more objects. The numbers are staggering, but it is not the quantity that it is important, it is the potential of these objects to change our understanding of the history of Durham.

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Diwali 2022: 10 years and counting!

A post by Charlotte Spink (Learning Coordinator) and Olivia Anderson (Graduate Intern)                                        

This year the Diwali celebrations at the Oriental Museum were extra special because 2022 marks ten years of partnership working alongside the local Hindu community.

Over that period the event has gone from being a small scale with a few Diwali lights, to being a spectacular, large scale public event with, at its peak, over 400 people attending.

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Welcome to Library and Collections 2022/23!

As we welcome both our new and returning students to the upcoming academic year, our updated LibGuides include lots of information on getting started with the library or continuing using our services to support your studies.

In addition to what is available online, we are hosting a Welcome Fair in the Bill Bryson Library – the first time we’ve been able to do this since 2019! It will take place from the 26 – 30 September, 10am – 3:30pm.

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‘Making a Difference at Durham’ event

On Thursday 15 September, University Library and Collections staff attended the first ‘Making a Difference at Durham’ event. This was a chance for colleagues from across the University to come together to engage in discussions and hear about the range of resources, activities and benefits the University has to offer. For many staff, this was the first time they had seen colleagues from other areas of the University in person since the pandemic. 

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Celebrating Buddha’s Birthday

A post by Learning Coordinator Charlotte Spink.

On Sunday 15 May the Oriental Museum hosted Buddha’s Birthday celebrations. This event was particularly special after a two-year break owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was wonderful to welcome back our visitors and see the museum full of people.

Buddha’s Birthday, also known as Vesak or Wesak, is celebrated around the world and commemorates the birth of Buddha in around 563 BCE. Born a prince, Buddha went on to renounce his privileged royal life and become a holy man, ultimately reaching Enlightenment. 

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