Mandi,
 
As an undergraduate I interned at a museum about anthracite history in northeast Pennsylvania. One of the first things on the school group tour is a large piece of coal. We'd get the kids thinking by asking them how old they believed the piece of coal was. One day the curator led a group of Orthodox Jewish children. He asked them the question, and their response was that the piece of coal was 6,000 years old. He realized his faux pas and proceeded with the tour.
 
That story taught me that the model of museums "teaching" a subject is flawed. The visitor comes in with their own experience, their own knowledge, and their own opinion. Sure, we effect knowledge, but it's not as simple as passing X fact or concept to the visitor and hoping they "get it." Our job is to provoke thought, create opportunities for interaction and discussion, and – at best – give the visitor something new to consider and evaluate based on their experience.
 
This ID movie at the Smithsonian does not do that. If the Smithsonian wanted to sponsor an ID/Creationism versus Darwinism debate, they should feel free. Universities have sponsored hundreds of similar debates (my anthropologist friends LOVED going to them!). But the Smithsonian finds itself in an unenviable position walking a very tight line, a line plenty of other museums (especially those with IMAX theaters) are having difficulty walking.
 
But the ID movement is designed to get people to question evolutionary theory, to break its grip on society. It's designed to do exactly what we're doing here (and I'm hypocritically contributing to) – spark debate about Creationism's role in the sciences. From their perspective, at worst, ID proponents can look through transcripts of these debates and say, "See! There are people who don't want to even give ID a chance at the Smithsonian!" At best, ID proponents loosen evolutionary theory's grip over universities, schools, and museums. And in many cases they already have (reference recent events in Georgia and Pennsylvania schools and museums with IMAX theaters).
 
Best,
George
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Mandi Berry
To: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: ID Movie at Smithsonian

All I want to say about this is that if the general public could (or are) reading these listings, it would sound like a bunch of people trying to say what the public wants.  Has anyone thought about what kind of audience might come in to see the ID movie, and that they might benefit from seeing the rest of the museum?  That they may believe in ID or Creationism, but will be in a place where they can learn about evolution as well? 
 
After all of this "high-talk," lets get back to the basics of what is happening.  Is having different viewpoints in one museum so bad?  Isn't museum education supposed to spark discussion, imagination, and open one's mind to other things?  I'm just a student, and haven't had much experience in the museum field (yet), but is it just that bad to have the movie there?  Also, the NMNH had jazz evenings last summer, where does that fit in the mission?  Did that spark so much debate on this list-serv?
 
***As a side note, I interned at SI last summer, and there was a lot of unhappiness about the business-like quality SI has adopted.  Everything at the Smithsonian is slowly becoming commercialized, and the general public probably has no idea.***
 
Mandi
Baylor University
Graduate Student
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