Knowing Through Objects: The World of an Antique Chinese Wedding Bed

“Knowing Through Objects: The World of an Antique Chinese Wedding Bed” is a RDE Studiolab/Ampersand course during offered during the 2024–25 academic year, supported by the Mellon-funded Redefining Doctoral Education (RDE) initiative in the Center for the Humanities and taught by Zhao Ma (Associate Professor of Modern Chinese History), Trevor Sangrey (Teaching Professor, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies; College Faculty Fellow, Ampersand and First-Year Programs) and Yamile Ferreira (Studiolab Postdoctoral Fellow). The course uses a 19th-century bed as a starting point, in combination with digital tools and humanistic research methods, to facilitate a cultural history that engages questions of intimacy, nuptials, curation and conservation, and global trade and cultural exchanges. 

The reception and poster session will honor WashU Alum Peter Young and his wife, Lin Young, who established a research fund at the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures that provided a seed grant for the Studiolab. This November, Peter Young will also receive a Distinguished Alumni Award.

Please join the instructors and students to enjoy a reception and hear undergraduate and graduate students present on their research projects in a poster session. Snacks and drinks will be provided!

All are welcome! RSVPs are appreciated by October 31 by emailing Dr. Ferreira at yamileferreira@wustl.edu.

Learn more about the course’s activities by visiting its blog and Instagram page, and more about the Center for the Humanities RDE initiative at this link.