Duke Diary Dispatch: In Italy, High-Tech Tools and Ancient Civilizations

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An image of Duke student Caitlin Childers and a map of Italy

My interest in the project is informed by my goal to work in museum education. This semester I was fortunate enough to be a service-learning assistant for a neuroscience course. Working with neuroscience students showed me the importance of an intersection between art historical and neuro-scientific work. This project will be my first opportunity at seeing this interdisciplinary work in action.  

For the project itself, we’ll be using eye tracking glasses to examine how people view the site. Specifically, we can see the overlap in what multiple people look at and how long they focus on it. The project is done in collaboration with the Sapienza University of Rome. I’m looking forward to meeting the other researchers and learning about their part in the work, as well as any personal ties they may have to the site. We’ll also be working with some neuroscientists from Duke. Hopefully, if there’s free time beyond work, we’ll be able to visit some museums in the area as well.  

I hope you’ll follow along!