These digital exhibits were created by College of Idaho students in a First-Year Seminar course (FYS 110): “Thinking through Things.”

Each student worked closely with a specimen from the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History, researching deeply the various ways in which the specimen has meaning—to humans through time and in various cultures, to commerce or economics, to religious or spiritual thought, to architecture or household use, to ecology or chemistry, to industry or aesthetics. Their research was interdisciplinary, thorough, and creative—and you can view a snapshot of it here.

We pursued the pleasure of uncovering the multiple meanings of things, the rich stories behind objects.

To see more of their work on these specimens, visit the individual web pages below.

--Rochelle Johnson, Professor of English & Environmental Studies