CAREER: Biology on Display: Museums and the New Life Sciences in America

展出的生物学：美国的博物馆和新生命科学这个职业奖将研究和教学结合起来，详细探索20世纪美国学术界和公众对生物学的理解之间的历史关系。这项为期五年的研究项目用历史研究的方法考察了1900年至1980年间美国博物馆生命科学展览的展示模式变化——这是科学史家未曾涉足的课题。本研究阐明了生物学作为一门科学的学术和社会重构的核心问题，包括参与生命科学实验室研究的人和实践与参与其公开展示的人之间的关系；学科和物质力量的相互作用，使得生物展览在较新的科技博物馆以及更广泛的美国文化中发挥核心作用；最终，博物馆在维持20世纪生命科学的社会支持方面不断变化的机构角色。研究活动包括纽约的博物馆实地考察项目，以及华盛顿、波士顿、费城、洛杉矶、旧金山、芝加哥和哥伦布（俄亥俄州）的档案馆和博物馆遗址。除了这个研究项目，PI还在开发两门新课程，要求本科生进行独立的历史和/或社会学研究。学生们在公开研讨会“公共科学/大众科学：现代世界的知识创造和科学素养”中探讨了科学是如何被构建为一项公共事业的。本课程探讨实验室实践与社会和政治变革过程之间的一般关系，以及不同历史和文化背景下科学素养问题的特殊意义和重要性。本科高级研修班“展示的自然：科学中的博物馆”主要探讨科学与文化如何在博物馆环境中相互建构，特别关注不同类型的科学博物馆的历史演变，以及展览建设的过程。后一门课程要求学生在当地的科学博物馆进行实地实习，以便亲身体验（通过研究原始历史文献，或成为当代展览设计的参与者-观察者）博物馆科学的制作过程。萨拉劳伦斯学院位于纽约大都会区，是一所创新的文理学院，拥有独特的本科课程结构，以小型研讨会、跨课程写作和个人辅导为特色；因此，该计划的教学目标是唯一适合该机构的利基。为了进一步鼓励在研讨会期间向公众宣传，PI正在开发一个关于“公共科学的意义”的系列讲习班，届时将邀请杰出的本地和国家学者、艺术家和科学家在小组讨论和讲座中就他们的作品阐述班级主题。所有的教育工作都考虑到使用WWW基础设施进行信息和交互。主要目标是出版一本书，以及会议报告（针对学生和PI），并在学术期刊和普通教育场所发表文章。通过概述生物学展示的历史，本研究项目将博物馆重新定位为与生命科学研究实践和普及的现有历史相关的重要机构。通过将文科学生安置在博物馆，PI的教学活动可以使他们接触到社会科学方法，并促进公众和学术科学世界之间的社区和学科推广。

Proposal SES 01-34482Biology on Display: Museums and the New Life Sciences in AmericaKaren A. Rader, Sarah Lawrence CollegeThis CAREER Award integrates research and teaching toward a detailed exploration of the historical relations between academic and public understandings of biology in the twentieth century United States. The five-year research project examines with historical research methods the changing display patterns of life science exhibitions in American museums between 1900 to 1980 -- a subject uncharted by historians of science. This study clarifies central issues about the academic and social reconfiguration of biology as a science, including the relationship of the people and practices involved in life science laboratory research to those involved in its public presentation; the interplay of disciplinary and material forces that led biological exhibits to play a central role in newer science and technology museums, as well as in American culture more broadly; and, ultimately, the changing institutional role of the museum in sustaining social support for the twentieth-century life sciences. Research activities include a program of museum fieldwork in New York and at archives and museum sites in Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Columbus (Ohio).Alongside the research project, the PI is developing two new courses that involve undergraduate students in independent historical and/or sociological research. Students in an open seminar, "Public Science/Popular Science: Knowledge-Making and Scientific Literacy in the Modern World," explores how science is constructed as a public enterprise. This course investigates the general relationship between laboratory practice and processes of social and political change, as well as the particular meaning and significance of scientific literacy issues in differing historical and cultural contexts. Also, an advanced undergraduate seminar, "Nature on Display: Museums in Science," focuses on how science and culture co-construct one another in the museum setting, with special attention to the historical evolution of different types of science museums, and the process of exhibition construction. This latter course requires students to undertake field placements at local science museums, in order to experience first hand (either by researching primary source historical documents, or by becoming a participant-observer in the design of a contemporary display) the process of museum science in-the-making. Located in the New York Metropolitan area, Sarah Lawrence College is an innovative liberal arts school with a unique undergraduate course structure that features small seminars, writing-across-the-curriculum, and individual tutorials; thus the pedagogical aims of this plan are uniquely suited to the institution's niche. To further encourage public outreach during the seminars, the PI is developing a workshop series on "The Meaning of Public Science," in which exceptional local and national scholars, artists, and scientists will be invited to address their work to class themes in small panel discussions and lectures. All educational efforts make considered use of a WWW infrastructure for information and interaction.The primary goal is production of a book, as well as conference presentations (for students and the PI) and articles in scholarly journals and general education venues. By providing an overview of the history of biology displays, this research project re-situates museums as important institutions in relation to the existing histories of research practices and popularization in the life sciences. By placing liberal arts students in museums, the PI's pedagogical activities can expose them to social science methodologies, as well advance community and disciplinary outreach between the public and academic worlds of science.