Renaissance Globe Project: Volunteers

Renaissance Globe Project: Volunteers

The Renaissance Globe Project was made possible thanks to the significant commitment of volunteers working both behind the scenes preparing the globes and helping to deliver activities for the public and school groups.

In all, 26 volunteers gave around 200 hours of their time across the four partner museums. A few of these volunteers are profiled here, along with some comments about their experiences of the Renaissance Globe Project.

 

Alison Cooper

I first volunteered with the Oxford University Museums and Collections at 'Wow! How?' in 2011. This built on my experience as a STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] ambassador in South Yorkshire and Oxfordshire. I became interested in museum outreach when studying a postgraduate diploma in science communication, as it offers a great way to combine science and arts in an interactive environment.

 

Alison Cooper portrait photo

 

Claire Gayle

For this past year, I have been working towards a postgraduate degree in Historic Conservation at Oxford Brookes University. I began volunteering last winter in the hopes of becoming part of the fantastic museums we have in Oxford. My favourite parts of the Renaissance Globe Project were the object-handling sessions we held with the Ashmolean’s marvellous materials globe, as well as the opportunity for visitors to contribute to an object that is now on display!

Claire Gayle

 

 

Caroline Best

I've been a volunteer with Oxford University Museums and Collections for about a year, since moving to the city on retirement. Helping with the family activities based on the Ashmolean's marvellous materials globe has been great fun and very rewarding. Children much enjoyed searching the Museum for artefacts and recording the origins of their finds on the globe. Older ones traced trade routes and were impressed by the distances involved, while the youngest had fun spinning the globe and sticking samples of the materials, spices and silks to its frame. There was a sense of achievement in creating together, for display, an object reflecting what the children had found and what we had all learned from the project.

 

Caroline Best portrait photo