Ethos: A Computational Framework for Material Culture Research

Authors

• Chelsea L. Grafe, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Kylin Flothe

Committee Members

Leen-Kiat Soh, Mary Alice Casto, Michael James

Date of this Version

7-2026

Document Type

Project

Citation

A master's project presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Major: Material Culture and Textile Studies

Under the supervision of Professor Kylin Flothe

Lincoln, Nebraska, July 2026

Comments

Copyright 2026, Chelsea L. Grafe. Used by permission

Abstract

Museum catalog records make large collections searchable, but they do not always preserve the reasoning behind the claims they contain. A record may present a quilt's identity as settled while leaving the reasoning behind that claim invisible, making it difficult for later researchers to check, question, or reuse. This project asks whether museum catalog data can be analyzed in a way that keeps each analytical claim connected to the evidence that supports it. To test this question, the project applies a material-first computational framework named Ethos. Ethos formalizes an object-centered inquiry sequence in which material dependencies establish where analysis begins and source-linked rules determine which questions can be tested. Its reasoning is organized in three layers: material and historical constraints, patterns observed within a specific collection, and interpretive questions the available evidence cannot yet resolve. Rather than forcing ambiguous evidence into a single conclusion, Ethos marks what the evidence can support and where the record reaches its limit. Its purpose is to make each result traceable enough to inspect, challenge, and revise. Four demonstrations test the framework using the International Quilt Museum catalog of 7,182 quilts. The first, a documented 1824 quilt, confirmed that Ethos can test catalog claims against material and historical constraints while keeping its reasoning visible. The second, an 1862 quilt whose maker's name appears differently across six primary sources, examines whether the framework can preserve conflicting evidence, resolve claims where the evidence permits, and leave genuine ambiguity intact where it does not. The third asks a single question of all 7,182 records, whether any quilt claims machine piecing before the sewing machine's documented arrival, and identifies five records for curatorial review while confirming the collection's strong overall consistency. The fourth carries one quilt's material traits across institutional boundaries, searching the public collections of the Smithsonian, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and returns every candidate with its reasoning attached. The project argues that an object-centered inquiry process can be made computationally explicit and accountable at collection scale when the order of inquiry, authority of evidence, and source behind each rule remain visible.

Advisor: Kylin Flothe