In this module students will explore how objects have altered our habits, values and identities in the modern era. We live in a world defined by objects, we buy, we collect, we make and we recycle objects innumerable times throughout our lives. Within this module, students will explore the "material world" and examine issues of design, consumption and use. Students will assess the role of objects through an interdisciplinary perspective and consider how objects are at the core of all our lives from the personal keepsakes to the grand symbols of the nation state. Students will study objects that can be used, sold, exchanged and displayed whilst also assess how objects can communicate knowledge and practical information to diverse audiences. The course will utilise different types of objects from the venerated and respected artefacts in local museums and art galleries, the desirable goods for sale in shops, to everyday items that we employ almost unconsciously. In this module, students will critically engage with the material world to be able to access issues of design, function, economics, ethics, reuse and exchange. Through this process, students will be able to see how whilst we create objects but those obejcts also shape and mould us.