The Afterlife of Diseased Bones: Skeletal Collections as Laboratories for Interdisciplinary Learning

Innovative project idea

Using pathological skeletal remains to foster transdisciplinary thinking through lesions of disease. Learning directly from physical specimens—an approach still underused in university teaching—the course strengthens observation, comfort with uncertainty and constructive discourse. Students work hands-on with bones to refine descriptive precision and reflect on ethical responsibility across disciplines. Clinical, forensic, archaeological, historical, and ethical perspectives are brought into dialogue to explore how bones acquire meaning over time, shaping knowledge and professional identity.

Added value for students and teaching

Students sharpen observation skills by separating description from interpretation and articulating uncertainty. They learn to use skeletal remains as evidence for clinical, forensic, archaeological, historical, and ethical questions, and to design small teaching formats from collection material. The transdisciplinary format exposes them to interpretive approaches rarely encountered within their own fields, enabling richer insights from the same material than discipline-specific training allows. The course demonstrates how collections can function as laboratories for interdisciplinary learning.