Museums, institutes, collections, and other holdings on the Bloomington campus preserve, explain, and display items of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance. Every day, they provide windows on worlds for countless students, researchers, and members of the public. Engaging with these resources offers insights into the past, the present, and even into the future; the aesthetic vision of the people who made them, used them, or enjoyed them leads to a better understanding of the human condition. The emphasis in this book is on the international origins of these items. In choosing what was to be included in this volume, our goal has been to select pieces that stand out because of their uniqueness or extraordinary significance or beauty. Each chapter includes items that correspond to a thematic idea, ones we hope are universal. We have followed this approach rather than chronological or historical arrangements. At the same time, there is an overall identity to the particular museums, archives, and collections on the Bloomington campus that is important to maintain.

The campus is indeed fortunate to be able to provide easy access to these wonderful holdings. After a class, a student may, in passing, wander into a building and encounter another world; ideally, it might be someone who has never visited a collection and for whom there is the excitement of a new discovery. Experiences such as this have the capacity to transform lives. The items in this book reflect a wide range of human activities: adornment, power, religious belief, history, achievement, exploration. Personal engagements enable our students and other viewers to take journeys of aesthetic, intellectual, or personal discovery and, ultimately, journeys into themselves.