Postgraduate Researchers

PhD Research Student - School of Art and Design

Project title: The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s Collections 1713-2018: From museum for the profession to museum of the profession.

Project Abstract 

My research investigates how the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland’s museum, initially envisioned as a collection to support the education of the medical profession transformed over time to become a collection which memorialised that profession and helped shape a professional identity. This shift did not take place in isolation, but over a period of time during which the membership and self-image of the medical profession in Ireland changed, as did the view of what constituted a museum.

To trace these shifts this research will explore three sets of related research questions· What are the College’s collections, what is their history and what can an analysis of the historiography of collecting tell us about the construction of identity by the institution?

· How did individuals within the college influence the creation of the collections? What can the tracing of their biographies and social networks divulge about their motivations?

· How can RCPI’s collections and collecting practices be used as a case study for exploring the development of a professional identity? How do these practices fit into wider social and cultural trends in Ireland?

 

Supervisors: Dr Niamh Ann Kelly, Dr Mary Ann Bolger

Funder: Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and Apothecaries Hall of Dublin