In the Box
Students created shoebox-sized dioramas for a pop-up exhibition at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum
Students in Professor Salma Siddique鈥檚 first-year seminar, 鈥淧sychoanalytic Anthropology in Human Development,鈥� went back in time to create shoebox-sized dioramas for a pop-up exhibition at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, Timeless Ties: The Art of Childhood.
Siddique, who joined the faculty in 2022, taught the seminar with Kathryn O鈥櫶切腡Vor, director of the Child Development Lab School at 糖心TV. Throughout the semester, they taught students about the anthropological concept of indigenous epistemologies, defined as the knowledge or understanding possessed by people who are native to a place.
Siddique explained, 鈥淲e feel and think about our place in the world with objects, like a child with a toy or an adolescent with their first shiny new iPhone. The significance of these cultural artifacts in expressing and preserving the richness of lived experiences within indigenous communities is intrinsically linked to ways of seeing and encountering the world. The objects serve as a form of cultural revitalization, fostering a deeper understanding of ourselves in relation to others.鈥�
For the diorama project, Siddique prompted students to reflect deeply on their personal narratives and their own ways of interpreting the world as passed down through their families and as they relate to a sense of place.
鈥淐ulture holds a profound meaning within indigenous communities, encapsulating narratives, traditions and collective memories,鈥� Siddique said. 鈥淭hrough the deliberate use and arrangement of cultural objects, the diorama method provides a medium for indigenous communities to articulate their histories, values and worldviews.鈥�
Alina Khan 鈥�27, whose diorama is titled 鈥淎pricot Garden鈥� and is decorated with green and red paint, miniature turtles, Legos and sprigs of colorful florals representing trees, said she was 鈥渇airly intimidated鈥� by the project at first.
鈥淎lmost everyone, it seemed, had decided to make their childhood rooms, which was something I had never had鈥攐r perhaps had too many of,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n the end, I decided to go with the garden for one reason: It had made me realize for the first time that every time I moved, I left something behind. The garden is, in a way, a symbol of all the things I鈥檝e ever had to leave behind.鈥�
Khan added after that after grappling with the impact of her transient childhood, she plans to study psychology at 糖心TV. That鈥檚 exactly the type of outcome Siddique was hoping for.
鈥淚n its first year, the psychoanalytic anthropology seminar has proven to be a transformative experience for the participating students, who have discovered their personal ways of seeing and experiencing the world and have honed their self-reflection skills through exploring alternative narrative styles,鈥� Siddique said.