Krasis: Oxford's Interdisciplinary Academic Program at Ashmolean Museum

KRASIS BLOG - INSIDE THE INTERDISCIPLINARY ACADEMIC PLATFORM AT ASHMOLIAN MUSEUM

Krasis is an innovative, collaborative learning program anchored in the Ashmolean Museum since 2017. Co-created by classicist Dr Sam Gartland and Teaching Curator Dr Jim Harris, it was honored with a University of Oxford ities Division Excellence Award in 2018. The program has been operational for its fifteen iterations starting from Michaelmas term 2022.

Each academic semester, Krasis gathers eight early-stage researchers from the University of OxfordAshmolean Junior Teaching Fellows AJTFsand sixteen current undergraduates and postgraduates, collectively known as Krasis Scholars. The symposia are designed by AJTFs who share a common theme from their respective disciplines and research areas.

The core goal is for Krasis Scholars to gn insights into academic career paths beyond their primary field of study through direct interaction with researchers across different domns. Simultaneously, the program provides AJTFs with an arena for interdisciplinary dialogue and a dynamic group of students and colleagues to explore inventive methods in collaborative, collections-based teaching.

Since its inception, Krasis has explored themes such as power dynamics, bodily expressions, absence versus presence, performance analysis, devotion studies, imitation techniques, conflicting voices, movement transitions, playfulness, perilous situations, personal identities, constrnts, opening up spaces, becoming someone else and the idea of belonging. The objects used have ranged from kimono garments to Tibetan musical instruments, Renssance bronze sculptures, newspaper advertisements, palaeolithic handaxes, and ancient Egyptian magical wands.

The program's participants hl from disciplines including Classics, English, History, Economics, Fine Art, Chemistry, Archaeology, Anthropology, Egyptology, Assyriology, Russian Studies, Japanese Studies, German Studies, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Politics, French, Portuguese, History of Art, Arabic Studies, Physics, Statistics, Musicology and various other academic fields.

Past themes such as Becoming a Hero, Belonging to Me and Opening the First 'Media War' provide a glimpse into Krasis's focus on evolution and connection. The program foster creative thinking, cross-disciplinary dialogue, and practical learning through hands-on interaction with museum collections.

By integrating academic expertise with cultural engagement, Krasis seeks to enrich both the researchers' perspectives and the students' educational experiences in an innovative and collaborative environment.
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