Meaningful Things: Narrating a Life Through Objects
visit the site
The human process of making meaning in and of the world is intertwined with the material world; certain objects we engage with become bearers of life’s stories. In this project, we’ll create spaces for reflection on a life, starting with a meaningful object selected by the interviewee.
Follow along as we collect, connect, and share during the 2026-27 academic year.
In this project, we’ll engage in community connectedness through the creation of a series of biographical sketches drawn through the lens of a material object.
In the first year of the project, we’ll work with retiring/retired Duke faculty, centering each story around a meaningful object (or objects) that they associate closely with their experiences as teachers and researchers.
Our work will be conducted by a team of paid undergraduate and graduate program assistants. Overseen by the project director, they will research each interviewee, prepare interview questions, conduct and record interviews and prepare written transcriptions, take photos of the interviewee and their meaningful object(s), design print and digital materials to share with the interviewee, and, when appropriate and permitted, prepare materials to share through a public platform.
In our work, we will create spaces for reflection and attentiveness as we work closely with our campus and community partners. We’ll practice knowing and learning through presence: the importance of place, listening and sharing with intention and purpose, observing carefully and considering how things and places and people are interconnected across time and place for the person whose story we’re helping to tell. The stories that emerge will be shared with generosity and integrity and with a deeply collaborative spirit.
This project is grounded in the belief that careful attention to the details of the world around us and exploration of unexpected connections can cultivate ways of being and knowing that help us engage more purposefully with one another.
This project is directed by Dr. Lou Brown, Director of Programs for the Forum @ FHI, and is inspired by her work with students in her course, “Global Stories, Local Issues”. Examples of that work can be found on the Forum Online.
If you’re a retired faculty member or a student interested in participating in this project, email Lou Brown.
Interested students can also apply through Muser. We’re especially eager to connect with students who have the following skills:
- conducting and transcribing interviews
- photography
- graphic design
- creative nonfiction writing
- multimedia storytelling
check us out
on social media