Community Curators: Inside the Pharmacy Collection

Have you ever wanted to discover the hidden world behind the scenes of a museum? Or want to have a go at conducting academic research? Become a researcher for a day and join us in our quest to analyse the pharmacy collection at the Manchester Museum.

Housed in the Museum’s Herbarium, the Materia Medica collection consists of over 800 specimens in glass jars. The plants, animals and minerals in this collection were used to teach medicine at the University of Manchester during the 19th and 20th centuries. This little known collection is being dusted off the shelves and examined using interdisciplinary techniques to try and develop our understanding of pharmacy education at the turn of the century. In this session you will explore the fascinating world of interdisciplinary research and be introduced to themes from the history of pharmacy, material culture and historical archaeology as well as how to handle museum objects.

Come and contribute to current research by joining the research team for the day!

Lunch and refreshments will be provided

Please go to the museum reception area on arrival

Special thanks to ArtsMethods for funding this event