Teaching with Museum Collection: Ancient Egyptian Language, Culture, and History

In this post, our guest, Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer, PhD candidate in Egyptology, shared her recent teaching experience with the Oriental Institute Museum's collection for her summer intensive high school course "Ancient Egyptian Language, Culture, and History" offered by the University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies.

Photo credit: Tom Maday

As a PhD candidate in Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, I have had the opportunity these past four years to teach a summer course for the Graham School of General Studies entitled “Ancient Egyptian Language, Culture, and History.” This course is designed to introduce junior and senior high-school students to these aspects of ancient Egyptian society.

This year, I experimented with a new addition by incorporating the permanent exhibition in the Oriental Institute Museum into my core curriculum. Working with the Institute’s Public Education and Outreach Department, I developed a museum-inspired journaling project. It is my hope that writing about objects they encounter in the museum will help my students connect to what they have learned about ancient Egypt on a deeper and more personal level.

On Teaching Scribes in Mesopotamia

Professor of Hittite and Anatolian Languages Theo van den Hout at the University of Chicago tells us about who scribes in Mesopotamia and Anatolia were.

This video was made for the Oriental Institute Museum special exhibit "Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East" (September 28, 2010 through March 6, 2011). Visit our website for more videos and download the exhibit catalog.