Mutable Matter: Using Sensory Methods in Public Engagement with Nanotechnology

Leonardo ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Last
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Art Practice ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Future

Mutable Matter is an experimental public engagement pilot program that seeks to enable non-scientists to explore and co-imagine the future of nanotechnology. Located at the intersection of geography, science communication and art practice, Mutable Matter is intended as a starting point for examining playful sensory engagement methods bridging tangible public and intangible scientific spaces. The project both challenges the role of non-scientists as mere commentators on pre-decided innovation trajectories and draws attention to the way scientific information is creatively encountered in the public realm.

scholarly journals The Future of Our Seas: Marine scientists and creative professionals collaborate for science communication

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence De Clippele ◽  
Madlaina Michelotti ◽  
Charlotte R. Findlay ◽  
Amy Cartwright ◽  
Qing Fang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Future ◽  
Effective Science ◽  
Collaborative Engagement ◽  
Development Support ◽  
The Impact

To increase awareness of the current challenges facing the marine environment, the Future of Our Seas (FOOS) project brought together the expertise of scientists, public engagement experts and creatives to train and support a group of marine scientists in effective science communication and innovative public engagement. This case study aims to inspire scientists and artists to use the FOOS approach in training, activity design and development support (hereafter called the ‘FOOS programme’) to collaboratively deliver novel and creative engagement activities. The authors reflect on the experiences of the marine scientists: (1) attending the FOOS communication and engagement training; (2) creating and delivering public engagement activities; (3) understanding our audience; and (4) collaborating with artists. The authors also share what the artists and audiences learned from participating in the FOOS public engagement activities. These different perspectives provide new insights for the field with respect to designing collaborative training which maximizes the impact of the training on participants, creative collaborators and the public. Long-term benefits of taking part in the FOOS programme, such as initiating future collaborative engagement activities and positively impacting the scientists’ research processes, are also highlighted.

scholarly journals ‘The house’ as a framing device for public engagement in STEM museums

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Whiteley ◽  
Anette Stenslund ◽  
Ken Arnold ◽  
Thomas Söderqvist
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
The Public ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Family Resemblances ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Uk

In the last five to ten years, several science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM) museums have been experimenting with new forms of public engagement, aiming to be places for curiosity-driven investigation of the cultures of science via multiple perspectives, bringing artists, scientists, researchers, clinicians, members of the public and others together. Yet these diverse and rapidly evolving sites lack a clear definition of their family resemblances – something we argue is crucial for better understanding, advocating, and evaluating what they do. As a starting point for this definitional project we propose ‘the house’ as a metaphor and framing device for public engagement in STEM museums, grounded in experiences at Medical Museion in Denmark and Wellcome Collection in the UK. We further suggest that a Goldilocks principle – the notion of lying between two poles of a continuum in a ‘just right’ position – captures several key features of what it is about the idea of a house that resonates with the approach to public engagement in these museums.Key words: STEM museums, science communication, public engagement, house.

The Afterlife of a Dream and the Ritual System of the Epidaurian Asklepieion

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-52
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Ahearne-Kroll
Keyword(s):  
Human Action ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Public Display ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind

Abstract This study looks at the ways that the healing inscriptions at the Epidauran Asklepieion transfer the private experience of a supplicant into the public realm of the life of the sanctuary. This process imbues the individual dream with a potential for influence that can honor the god in unforeseen ways well into the future. The study then examines the role of one god, Mnēmosyne, in the afterlife of the dream in order to gain an appreciation of the overall ritual system at the Asklepieion. It will be argued that Mnēmosyne plays a key role ritually not just in preserving the memory of the dream for the individual, but also in intellectually ordering the mind for the dreamer to articulate the dream to the sanctuary officials, in enabling the construction and inscription of the account for public display, and in creating opportunities for others to honor Asklepios well into the future and well beyond Epidaurus. Mnēmosyne’s involvement at the Epidauran Asklepieion attests to a complex ritual system of human action within a perceived divine group-effort to benefit the divine and human worlds.

scholarly journals Have you heard the PEPS talk? Towards standardized public engagement practices for scientists (PEPS)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Martin ◽  
Radames JB Cordero ◽  
Gatien de Broucker
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Cognitive Learning ◽  
Affective Learning ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
The Public ◽  
Unrealistic Expectations

Publicly-funded scientists have a responsibility to engage with the public on scientific information, but are lacking a standardized framework and assessment strategy to do it well. The PEPS (Public Engagement Practices for Scientists) Method is an outcomes-centered framework employing standardized pedagogical methods with quantifiable outcomes. This approach reveals that scientists often have unrealistic expectations for achieving affective learning outcomes (i.e. changing views from anti- to pro-vaccine) by solely cognitive learning strategies (i.e. supplying data). The PEPS Method can serve as a roadmap for standardized science communication assessments, complementing existing science communication training programs for the next generation of scientists.

scholarly journals The Metamorphosis of Written Devotion in the Age of Vatican II (c. 1948–c. 1998) in Hungary—Guestbooks in Hungarian Marian Shrines

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 235
Author(s):  
Krisztina Frauhammer
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Virgin Mary ◽  
Combined Effect ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
The Public ◽  
Written Form ◽  
Personal Prayer ◽  
The Church

This article presents the Hungarian manifestations of a written devotional practice that emerged in the second half of the 20th century worldwide: the rite of writing prayers in guestbooks or visitors’ books and spontaneously leaving prayer slips in shrines. Guestbooks or visitors’ books, a practice well known in museums and exhibitions, have appeared in Hungarian shrines for pilgrims to record requests, prayers, and declarations of gratitude. This is an unusual use of guestbooks, as, unlike regular guestbook entries, they contain personal prayers, which are surprisingly honest and self-reflective. Another curiosity of the books and slips is that anybody can see and read them, because they are on display in the shrines, mostly close to the statue of Virgin Mary. They allow the researcher to observe a special communication situation, the written representation of an informal, non-formalised, personal prayer. Of course, this is not unknown in the practice of prayer; what is new here is that it takes place in the public realm of a shrine, in written form. This paper seeks answers to the question of what genre antecedents, what patterns of behaviour, and which religious practices have led to the development of this recent practice of devotion in the examined period in Hungarian Catholic shrines. In connection with this issue, this paper would like to draw attention to the combined effect of the following three factors: the continuity of traditions, the emergence of innovative elements and the role of the church as an institution. Their parallel interactions help us to understand the guestbooks of the shrines.

scholarly journals Where Does the World Historian Write From? Objectivity, Moral Conscience and the Past and Present of Imperialism

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Drayton
Keyword(s):  
Iraq War ◽  
Imperial History ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Academic Subject ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Ethical Responsibilities

The contemporary historian, as she or he speaks to the public about the origins and meanings of the present, has important ethical responsibilities. ‘Imperial’ historians, in particular, shape how politicians and the public imagine the future of the world. This article examines how British imperial history, as it emerged as an academic subject since about 1900, often lent ideological support to imperialism, while more generally it suppressed or avoided the role of violence and terror in the making and keeping of the Empire. It suggests that after 2001, and during the Iraq War, in particular, a new Whig historiography sought to retail a flattering narrative of the British Empire’s past, and concludes with a call for a post-patriotic imperial history which is sceptical of power and speaks for those on the underside of global processes.

Rethinking the Future оf the Accounting Profession

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariya Pavlova ◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Business Partner ◽  
Accounting Profession ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Future

The question regarding the future of the accounting profession is being raised more and more often. The most powerful professional accounting organizations are directing all their resources to study the problems of the future of accounting. The issues regard accounting as a whole, the profession, what types of personnel will be needed for business and the public sector, and possible effects of digitalization. It is argued that the role of the professional accountant is undergoing a dramatic transformation, that in the future she will assume the role of a strategic business partner in the organization and must therefore acquire new competencies. This paper outlines what these competences should be and how to gain them.

De publieke-omroepopdracht in de ogen van het publiek: survey-onderzoek naar de toekomstige taak van de Vlaamse publieke omroep

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Dhoest ◽  
Hilde Van den Bulck ◽  
Heidi Vandebosch ◽  
Myrte Dierckx
Keyword(s):  
Survey Research ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Broadcasting ◽  
Future Role ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Service Broadcasting ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
The Future ◽  
Current Task

The public broadcasting remit in the eyes of the audience: survey research into the future role of Flemish public service broadcasting The public broadcasting remit in the eyes of the audience: survey research into the future role of Flemish public service broadcasting In view of the discussion about the future position of public service broadcasting, this research investigates the expectations of Flemings regarding their public service broadcasting institution VRT. Based on the current task description of the VRT, a survey was effectuated among a representative sample of Flemings (N=1565). Questions were asked about the content (broad or complementary to commercial broadcasting), audience (broad or niche) and distinctive nature of public service broadcasting. The analysis shows that, overall, Flemings are in favour of a broad public service broadcasting institution with a strong focus on entertainment (besides information), oriented towards a broad audience. At the same time, they believe the institution should distinguish itself from its competitors, through quality, social responsibility, cultural identity and (particularly creative) innovation, among other things. Cluster analysis shows that the call to prioritize culture and education over entertainment, which dominates public debate, is representative of only a minority (20%) of highly educated Flemings.

scholarly journals Why Should Scientists be on YouTube? It’s all About Bamboo, Oil and Ice Cream

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric B. Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Visual Communication ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Ice Cream ◽  
Communication Tools ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communications Skills ◽  
Do It Yourself ◽  
Diverse Groups

Scientific information is a key ingredient needed to tackle global challenges like climate change, but to do this it must be communicated in ways that are accessible to diverse groups, and that go beyond traditional methods (peer-reviewed publications). For decades there have been calls for scientists to improve their communication skills—with each other and the public—but, this problem persists. During this time there have been astonishing changes in the visual communication tools available to scientists. I see video as the next step in this evolution. In this paper I highlight three major changes in the visual communication tools over the past 100 years, and use three memorable items—bamboo, oil and ice cream—and analogies and metaphors to explain why and how Do-it-Yourself (DIY) videos made by scientists, and shared on YouTube, can radically improve science communication and engagement. I also address practical questions for scientists to consider as they learn to make videos, and organize and manage them on YouTube. DIY videos are not a silver bullet that will automatically improve science communication, but they can help scientists to 1) reflect on and improve their communications skills, 2) tell stories about their research with interesting visuals that augment their peer-reviewed papers, 3) efficiently connect with and inspire broad audiences including future scientists, 4) increase scientific literacy, and 5) reduce misinformation. Becoming a scientist videographer or scientist DIY YouTuber can be an enjoyable, creative, worthwhile and fulfilling activity that can enhance many aspects of a scientist’s career.

scholarly journals Towards sustainable public engagement (outreach)

2016 ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Timothy G Harrison ◽  
Dudley E Shallcross
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
First Year ◽  
Financial Cost ◽  
The Public ◽  
Full Support ◽  
Public Engagement In Science ◽  
Science Departments

There are myriad benefits to science departments that have a public engagement in science portfolio in addition to any recruitment of new undergraduates. These benefits are discussed in this paper and include: improving congruence between A level and first year undergraduate courses, training in science communication and the breaking down of barriers between the public and universities. All activity requires investment of personnel and incurs a financial cost. Small scale activities may be able to absorb this cost, but ultimately as the portfolio grows this will become an increasing drain on resources. Bristol ChemLabS Outreach has, from the very start, set out to be fully sustainable financially and in terms of personnel. A very important component is the full support of the senior management team. In this paper we discuss how we have achieved this.

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