I have finally chosen a thesis topic that I am passionate about and gathered a host of sources discussing best practices for museum professionals engaging with climate change within their institution, how to best contextualize climate change to visitors, how historic buildings are directly effected by changes in the climate at large (as well as how this influences the microclimates which develop inside the building), the structural and behavioral changes seen in buildings affected by a changing climate, and how museum objects respond to shifts in both microclimate as well as the climate at large. My bibliography and sources seem very promising and have my interest in a death grip; I am incredibly eager to dig into these readings and really develop a more fulfilled and full understanding as to how our shifting environmental conditions are directly impacting objects of visual culture such as museum objects and buildings. Research into the ways that local Rochesterian cultural institutions and professionals have engaged the public on the topic of climate change and sustainability as well as how these professionals use climate controls in a museum setting seems both exciting and informative. The interviews, especially, will be very interesting I am sure.
I look forward to beginning writing and continuing research on my project! Please, let me know if you have any questions or if I did not explain a facet of my topic accessibly (or at all).
Showing posts with label #ZacherySherman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #ZacherySherman. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
My Thesis Topic
As per my second post, I have moved my thesis project idea from the realm of social justice to that of climate change. I want to critically engage with the following questions: are museums recognizing the effects of climate change and taking action in regards to their own institution's climate control systems? Are museums and other cultural institutions within the Rochester area making strides to engage and educate their public about the realities of climate change? Are museums entirely devoted to climate change, such as NYC's The Climate Museum project, able to engage in meaningful discussion with the public on the topic of climate change, environmentalism, and on the topic of actually making changes within one's daily routine in response to climate shifts/pollution?
In other words, I want to be able to critically and qualitatively analyze whether visitors outside of New York City (residents of other large New York cities such as Rochester) have heard of the The Climate Museum or engaged with topics concerning climate change through local institutions' exhibitions, objects, or community outreach programming. How do local Rochesterian museum professionals attempt to engage the public with discussion involving climate change? Does the public find these engagements successful and do these museum professionals find their methods of engaging with said public successful? Are local Rochesterian museums making infrastructure, HVAC, or climate control changes in response to major shifts in temperature, pollution, and weather-related phenomenon (i.e. harsher winters, dryer and hotter summers, wilder fluctuating humidity levels)?
In order to do this I will be reading critical articles and literature from museum professionals dealing with the topic of climate change, infrastructure professionals discussing best practices for climate control and building preservation, and the effect that shifting climates have upon museum objects (humidity, mold, etc.). I will also be interviewing local Rochesterian museum professionals, RIT faculty, and RIT students in regards to how they have engaged with the topic of climate change in a professional sense or through museum visits.
In other words, I want to be able to critically and qualitatively analyze whether visitors outside of New York City (residents of other large New York cities such as Rochester) have heard of the The Climate Museum or engaged with topics concerning climate change through local institutions' exhibitions, objects, or community outreach programming. How do local Rochesterian museum professionals attempt to engage the public with discussion involving climate change? Does the public find these engagements successful and do these museum professionals find their methods of engaging with said public successful? Are local Rochesterian museums making infrastructure, HVAC, or climate control changes in response to major shifts in temperature, pollution, and weather-related phenomenon (i.e. harsher winters, dryer and hotter summers, wilder fluctuating humidity levels)?
In order to do this I will be reading critical articles and literature from museum professionals dealing with the topic of climate change, infrastructure professionals discussing best practices for climate control and building preservation, and the effect that shifting climates have upon museum objects (humidity, mold, etc.). I will also be interviewing local Rochesterian museum professionals, RIT faculty, and RIT students in regards to how they have engaged with the topic of climate change in a professional sense or through museum visits.
Friday, October 28, 2016
What I've Learned in Class Thus Far
In order to write a thesis or any other piece of critical academic literature, a solid foundation for research methodologies, writing clarity, the formulation of specific research questions, analysis of data, formation of conclusions from the evidence presented/collected, and a solid understanding of how to format and structure citations are required. In other words, in order to construct an academic work that directly engages with difficult subjects, one must be able to dissect, analyze, and critique scholarly sources as well as refer to them correctly. In order to even begin the process of academic inquiry and research, previous examples of theses or academic studies/experiments already extant in the field need to be read as both examples of what works in regards to forwarding one's argument(s) and what does not. How do you, as an individual, present your ideas in a way that engages meaningfully with your audience? This is the driving question behind what we do within our Research Methods class with Professor Caroll.
The pieces that we have examined in class as well as on our own serve as perfect examples of the possible shortcomings or over-extensions of a thesis topic which either make or break the effectiveness of the conclusions/research presented. For example, when reading the "I Know I’m Home When I Have One: The Cultural Significance of the Garbage Plate of Rochester, NY" article the issue of having a succinct, accurate, and specific abstract was explored. Namely, within the abstract it was stated that the cultural roots of the foods and ingredients used within the garbage plate would be discussed and analyzed, however, the work itself focused more upon how the community perceived the garbage plate itself. The ingredients were mentioned, but only in their relation to other popular bar foods and juxtaposing the complexity of the garbage plate (i.e. the amount of ingredients) with community members' own previous experiences with Rochester's food culture. What this piece did do well was explore how a detailed community survey/interview allows multiple perspectives and meaningful details one may have overlooked to come to the surface of a discussion: the experiences of the community became the focus and framework for the academic work and subsequent discussion.
When reading through and attempting to summarize Elizabeth Bucar's work dealing with the ethics of visual culture and the social act of seeing, I tackled a common issue inherent to academic writing. How does one succinctly and effectively communicate a wealth of heavy theoretical and abstract concepts? Bucar was writing in response to a panel of Religious Ethics discussing cultural anthropologist Kenneth George’s book [as well as other examples from the literary discourse regarding visual culture], Picturing Islam: Art and Ethics in a Muslim Lifeworld (2010), a retrospective of the collaborative work between George and Indonesian Islamic artist Djalil Pirous wherein the concept of creative visual expression is examined as a means of cultivating a specific self-concept and developing a moral framework from which to engage reality. Bucar's essay revealed to me just how difficult and crucial being able to succinctly provide contextual backgrounds for one's argument is when writing for an audience that may or may not be familiar with the concepts one is exploring. This was very helpful for me as Bucar summarizes the current conversations and topics circulating the visual culture aspects of religious ethical thought in an accessible, detailed, yet not long-winded manner. Hopefully I will be able to communicate myself as accessibly and thoroughly as I read through the literature surrounding cultural institutions' engagement with climate change.
I have been utilizing Zotero as a content management system for my research and it has been an invaluable tool.
Bibliography
Bucar, Elizabeth M. 2016. "The Ethics of Visual Culture." Journal of Religious Ethics 44 (1): 7-16.
Fekete, Emily. 2014. “‘I Know I’m Home When I Have One:’ The Cultural Significance of the Garbage Plate of Rochester, NY,” Material Culture 46 (1): 25-43.
The pieces that we have examined in class as well as on our own serve as perfect examples of the possible shortcomings or over-extensions of a thesis topic which either make or break the effectiveness of the conclusions/research presented. For example, when reading the "I Know I’m Home When I Have One: The Cultural Significance of the Garbage Plate of Rochester, NY" article the issue of having a succinct, accurate, and specific abstract was explored. Namely, within the abstract it was stated that the cultural roots of the foods and ingredients used within the garbage plate would be discussed and analyzed, however, the work itself focused more upon how the community perceived the garbage plate itself. The ingredients were mentioned, but only in their relation to other popular bar foods and juxtaposing the complexity of the garbage plate (i.e. the amount of ingredients) with community members' own previous experiences with Rochester's food culture. What this piece did do well was explore how a detailed community survey/interview allows multiple perspectives and meaningful details one may have overlooked to come to the surface of a discussion: the experiences of the community became the focus and framework for the academic work and subsequent discussion.
When reading through and attempting to summarize Elizabeth Bucar's work dealing with the ethics of visual culture and the social act of seeing, I tackled a common issue inherent to academic writing. How does one succinctly and effectively communicate a wealth of heavy theoretical and abstract concepts? Bucar was writing in response to a panel of Religious Ethics discussing cultural anthropologist Kenneth George’s book [as well as other examples from the literary discourse regarding visual culture], Picturing Islam: Art and Ethics in a Muslim Lifeworld (2010), a retrospective of the collaborative work between George and Indonesian Islamic artist Djalil Pirous wherein the concept of creative visual expression is examined as a means of cultivating a specific self-concept and developing a moral framework from which to engage reality. Bucar's essay revealed to me just how difficult and crucial being able to succinctly provide contextual backgrounds for one's argument is when writing for an audience that may or may not be familiar with the concepts one is exploring. This was very helpful for me as Bucar summarizes the current conversations and topics circulating the visual culture aspects of religious ethical thought in an accessible, detailed, yet not long-winded manner. Hopefully I will be able to communicate myself as accessibly and thoroughly as I read through the literature surrounding cultural institutions' engagement with climate change.
I have been utilizing Zotero as a content management system for my research and it has been an invaluable tool.
Bibliography
Bucar, Elizabeth M. 2016. "The Ethics of Visual Culture." Journal of Religious Ethics 44 (1): 7-16.
Fekete, Emily. 2014. “‘I Know I’m Home When I Have One:’ The Cultural Significance of the Garbage Plate of Rochester, NY,” Material Culture 46 (1): 25-43.
My Current Thesis Topic Ideas
Originally, I was going to tackle the question of how museums and cultural institutions interact with contemporary social movements such as Black Lives Matter, Free the Nipple, and issues involving the hijab as well as the representation of Muslim Americans in popular media (juxtaposed with the museological representation(s) of these people currently being exhibited or having been exhibited in the past). I wanted to focus upon the Rochester area, due to its history of tumultuous race relations, revolt, and large African American population as well as the international and interracial student population at RIT providing a wide breadth of demographics for surveys/interviews. In other words, I initially wanted to explore both how museums and cultural institutions in Rochester, NY (and the surrounding suburbs) meaningfully interact with contemporary social movements, what it means to interact meaningfully with these social movements (both from the museum professional perspective and that of those personally involved with the social movements being examined), and how museums may foster more intimate and powerful connections with local communities via interacting with relevant social movements.
However, after looking at myself and my interests I have decided to move my tentative topic in a more environmentally conscious direction: how are museums and cultural institutions interpreting and educating the public in regards to climate change? Are museums and cultural institutions able to leave visitors with valuable knowledge about their climate, environment, and the preservation of not only museum objects but objects that they use in their daily lives? Do museums meaningfully convey the importance of developing new modes of energy generation, an awareness of the drastic effects that humans have on their surroundings, or are visitor made aware that climate change affects their lives (and their futures) every second of every day? These questions, along with analyzing and critically examining how museums directly devoted to environmental issues such as proposed The Climate Museum of New York City have impacted both their local and global communities. Namely, how does The Climate Museum intend to encourage discussion as well as engagement with the topics at hand? Is that discussion meaningful enough to spur actual changes in people's lives? Have visitors outside of New York City (residents of other large New York cities such as Rochester) heard of the The Climate Museum or engaged with topics concerning climate change through local institutions' exhibitions, objects, or community outreach programming? How do local Rochesterian museum professionals attempt to engage the public with discussion involving climate change? Does the public find these engagements successful and do these museum professionals find their methods of engaging with said public successful?
I hope to answer these questions or at least suggest methods of best practices following interviews and surveys with both the staff/leading figures of The Climate Museum, the Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC), The George Eastman Museum (GEM), and other relevant local institutions (such as colleges/universities like RIT and the University of Rochester). Climate change and environmental degradation are ongoing, unstoppable issues that directly effect both the present and future of humanity: I hope to ascertain that this reality is both understood by and guides museum programming in a way which promotes active thinking and lifestyle changes within their local and global audiences.
However, after looking at myself and my interests I have decided to move my tentative topic in a more environmentally conscious direction: how are museums and cultural institutions interpreting and educating the public in regards to climate change? Are museums and cultural institutions able to leave visitors with valuable knowledge about their climate, environment, and the preservation of not only museum objects but objects that they use in their daily lives? Do museums meaningfully convey the importance of developing new modes of energy generation, an awareness of the drastic effects that humans have on their surroundings, or are visitor made aware that climate change affects their lives (and their futures) every second of every day? These questions, along with analyzing and critically examining how museums directly devoted to environmental issues such as proposed The Climate Museum of New York City have impacted both their local and global communities. Namely, how does The Climate Museum intend to encourage discussion as well as engagement with the topics at hand? Is that discussion meaningful enough to spur actual changes in people's lives? Have visitors outside of New York City (residents of other large New York cities such as Rochester) heard of the The Climate Museum or engaged with topics concerning climate change through local institutions' exhibitions, objects, or community outreach programming? How do local Rochesterian museum professionals attempt to engage the public with discussion involving climate change? Does the public find these engagements successful and do these museum professionals find their methods of engaging with said public successful?
I hope to answer these questions or at least suggest methods of best practices following interviews and surveys with both the staff/leading figures of The Climate Museum, the Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC), The George Eastman Museum (GEM), and other relevant local institutions (such as colleges/universities like RIT and the University of Rochester). Climate change and environmental degradation are ongoing, unstoppable issues that directly effect both the present and future of humanity: I hope to ascertain that this reality is both understood by and guides museum programming in a way which promotes active thinking and lifestyle changes within their local and global audiences.
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