FIELD MUSEUM PROJECT SUMMARY (Natural History in Public)
Proposal 1: Monogamous Animals!
Name of Project Members
Sarah Weber
Unifying Biological Concept /Theme – What is the biological concept around which you will organize your wunderkammer? Discuss a little bit how you plan to use the concept to connect and synthesize objects and aspects of the museum in an interesting, novel, informative, and potentially eye-opening way for visitors?
The concept I will organize my Field Museum wunderkammer around is the idea of monogamy in the animal world. I will first define both social and sexual monogamy. I’m not sure how to connect this idea to objects yet but I will, hopefully, once I spend some time looking in the Field Museum next week. I want to give examples of animals that are linked because of similarities in mating patterns and behaviors.
Rationale for this Concept /Theme – Why are you interested in this theme? Why is this a meaningful natural history supplement to a museum experience? What will a museum goer learn / experience / think about that they wouldn’t otherwise? (100-200 words)
I’m interested in this theme because I think it’s an assumption that animals pick mates for mating purposes and not partnership or companionship. I want to showcase animals that pick mates for one mating season, for life, etc. The museum visitor would learn about animals that aren’t so different from people in the way relationships are made and maintained. I think some of the animals I’ve researched so far are interesting and surprising. There are emperor penguins, bald eagles, dikdiks, jackals, otters, French angelfish, gibbons, fairy wren, beaver, turtle doves, albatrosses, wolves, swans, and more!
Media format of the project – What are the components in terms of text, diagrams, audio, video, etc that you will likely use and why? How will this be accessible to the general public.
I am going to make a zine with text, images and links to youtube videos online. A component of the piece will be that it can be accessed online as a pdf.
Possible, specific items or components to include in your wunderkammer (so far)
Statistics, fun-facts, drawings, photographs, links.
Sarah, I love this idea! Your and my projects this semester have been exploring how we are like animals. how we project ourselves onto animals, etc. ... and I think this is an interesting continuation for you.
ReplyDeleteMy only crit would to think a bit more critically about doing a zine. You have such a strong concept already, why not present it in a more focused way?? or if not that maybe focus on one sort of component to convey information? Like just using video or just using text - so not to overwhelm the viewer and allow them to focus by using one sense of watching, listen etc. ... to be able to flesh out the interesting and important topic of love, monogamous or not, we humans spend so much of our time and energy trying to find/capture and protect. Just a suggestion.
So true! Thanks that's super helpful :)
Delete
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good topic. And so it sounds you will cover a range of types on monogamy - lifetime and serial/seasonal? Will you also discuss what are thought to be some of the underlying reasons for the evolution of monogamy in some creatures, and not in others? It is a large area of research and I think it needs to be addressed in your project for sure. It has been looked at in humans as well, from a evolutionary biology point of view.
this may be a useful reference for you:
The Myth of Monogamy: Fidelity and Infidelity in Animals and People
http://www.amazon.com/Myth-Monogamy-Fidelity-Infidelity-Animals/dp/0805071369
What do you see as the benefits of this being a "monogamy" tour (given its loaded significance in human culture) rather than a more general "tour of mating habits"?
As for format, doing something that is audio and not just a zine may be worthwhile for sure. It would let you get more in depth as well, perhaps.
best,
ay