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The Medicine Cabinet: Cross-Faculty student and public engagement project

01 Jun 2016

Collaboration between students and staff from Faculties of Life Sciences and Humanities

During the academic year 2015-16, staff and students from the Faculties of Life Sciences and Humanities have collaborated with the Museum of Medicine and Health (MMH), the University of Manchester Historian & Heritage Manager and Chetham’s Library to develop a series of public engagement activities that aimed to engage different audiences with the MMH’s collection of medical and healthcare objects. 

This work, which has been led by Dr Kostas Arvanitis (School of Arts, Languages and Cultures), Dr Carsten Timmermann (CHSTM) and Stephanie Seville (Heritage Assistant, MMH) and funded by the Faculty of Humanities and the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund, has included an exhibition, a family activity and a social media campaign, as follows: 

‘The Medicine Cabinet: Unlocking Manchester's Medical History’
Exhibition on 12 December 2015 at Chetham’s Library

This was the culmination of a semester long student project that saw 40 MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies students working on a range of collection management and exhibition development tasks with MMH objects and with the assistance of staff from the Manchester Museum and the Whitworth Art Gallery. Students researched and documented medical objects, assessed their conservation and environmental needs, examined the long-term sustainability of the collection, proposed possible uses of the collection and examined possible collaborations between the MMH, and other local cultural organisations. Then in December 2015, they produced a one-day pop-up exhibition at Chetham’s Library. The project enabled students to put in practice what they learned in class, acquire invaluable real-life experience in managing a museum collection, engage with different audiences and stakeholders and raise public awareness of the rich medical heritage of the University. Also, the exhibition offered local audiences and visitors an opportunity to find out more about the fascinating collection of MMH, and do that in the captivating space of the Chetham's Library. Over 200 people visited the exhibition and their feedback was extremely enthusiastic and positive.

Family activity at Manchester Histories Festival
(MHF), 11 June 2016

During MHF’s Celebration Day in Manchester Town Hall, family audiences will have an opportunity to participate in a hands-on activity with medical objects that MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies students have prepared in collaboration with the MMH. 

Social Media Campaign (June-July 2016)

Over the summer, the MMH will use social media to disseminate research that MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies students have conducted on its collection. This will take the format of image-led posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and will aim to engage with younger audiences with histories of those medical objects. Follow the campaign here

You can follow the project at:

Further information: