Frances (Frankie) Readshaw | 2025 I.S. Symposium

Name: Frances (Frankie) Readshaw
Title: Campus Collections: Status Building in Higher Education
Major: Anthropology
Minor: Museum Studies
Adivsor: Beth Derderian

In an academic world where higher education has become increasingly competitive, colleges and universities must build their reputation and prestige to maintain relevance and attract students and faculty. Studies identify parameters such as acceptance rates, qualifications of faculty, difficulty and diversity of courses, and post-graduation placement rates as indicators for the role of reputation and status in the success of higher education institutions. My research takes a different approach, focusing on the role of museum and archival collections in creating and maintaining reputation, prestige, and status for colleges and universities. Using three collections at the College of Wooster as case studies, I aim to identify if and how higher education institutions build and maintain status through collections. Incorporating ethnographic interviews with relevant faculty and staff, alongside content analysis of archival and institutional information, this research explores archival, statuary, and archaeological collections as status building tools. At the College of Wooster, Special Collections provide privileged access to rare materials and preserve the history and traditions of the College. Campus statues embody economic connections to donors, as well as the values and identities of the campus community. The Pella at Wooster archeological materials symbolizes shifts in institutional goals and educational missions. Overall, the use of collections to contribute to the prestige of their institution is limited by their accessibility, their fulfilment of institutional missions and goals, and their capacity and use of capital. Ultimately, collections have value, which can be limited or deployed through their use.

Posted in Symposium 2025 on May 1, 2025.