Nature on Display

HISTSCI 1334 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course presents a history of nature and science through the setting of the museum and allied institutions. Through visits to collections and museums on campus, we will interrogate how displaying nature is an act of interpretation and how those interpretations reflect contemporary social, political, cultural, and scientific norms. The course will be based around case studies of museums, zoos, botanic gardens, parks, visual art, and visual materials in books. Taught by the co-directors of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, the class will also make visits to the Harvard Art Museums, the Natural History Museum, several additional natural history research collections, the Ernst Mayr Library, Houghton Library, and the Harvard Arboretum. The final project is an online, curated exhibit and accompanying paper.