Preserving the Image of Science: Are Museums Dedicated to Promoting Science as “Good”?
| Dates: | 8 December 2015 |
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| Times: | 13:00 - 14:00 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | Faculty of Life Sciences |
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| Speaker: | Jia-Ou Song |
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This seminar is part of the lunchtime seminar series for the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM). Lunchtime seminars are typically no more than 30 minutes in length, followed by a period for audience questions (ending before 2pm). All are welcome.
Preserving the Image of Science: Are Museums Dedicated to Promoting Science as “Good”?
Jia-Ou Song (University of Manchester)
Abstract:
The notion of whether or not science itself is “good” has spawned dialogue upon dialogue; some concluding that “it depends”, others insisting that a context must be given, as science, to this day, is performed by humans, and cannot be ascribed its own conscience. The inherent “goodness” (or “badness”) of science aside, science can be presented with a positive or negative spin. In the case of mass media, especially channels with a political agenda, this spin is often thinly veiled, and dependent on scientific topic in question. How do these questions of communication apply to institutions that, in their contemporary guise, exist – and purport – to only communicate science, allowing the consumer to form their own opinion afterwards? In this paper, science is presented for evaluation in a science museum. The notion of “good” will be defined as giving the visitor a positive impression of science and the practice of scientific research. The paper employs case studies in China and the UK to represent audiences who are respectively taught to respect science with little question, and to question science and its practices. The title question of whether or not a science museum aims to present to science as “good” is first explored through historical examples to lay the foundation for the policies of their contemporary counterparts, then investigated in two ways: first, from the perspective of when museums have stated their mission to present science without bias; secondly, when an exhibition-development team has implied a wish to give the visitors a “good impression” of the science in the exhibition, what does that mean? What follow-up actions do they take in order to create this “good impression”? The paper aims to conclude on statements regarding science museums in the UK and China, and their actions towards presenting science as “good” (or not), and what this means with regards to the museum's role as a source of informal education of science and science in society.
Speaker
Jia-Ou Song
Organisation: University of Manchester
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
2.57
Simon Building
Manchester
