Perhaps this has been discussed here previously, my apologies if that is the case.
I've noticed a type of television show appearing over the last decade, the History Channel and others come to mind, in which subjects of dubious credibility -- ghosts, the paranormal, spirits, hauntings -- are approached in a so-called "scientific," reality-TV, manner. These are clearly entertainment shows, designed to attract the ratings and advertising potential of various magical belief systems existing in contemporary societies. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, except that these programs pose as being objective and scientific, documentary-like. They carefully navigate a middle-road course, never making too outrageous claims or drawing real conclusions, tiptoeing just far enough into the non-scientific to leave behind tantalizing inferences and implications -- and they include science, or sciencey methods, in just enough proportion to act as a kind-of public relations voucher, an implied validation, for whatever extraordinary inferences or titillations the show deems necessary to attract and keep viewers.
Ok, so it's TV. I find it reprehensible that producers of these shows reinforce misconceptions about what science and scientific method actually is -- misconceptions that exploit un-critical beliefs and contribute to negative consequences for society that are real, but that's entertainment I guess.
Museums, it seems to me, are a different matter. The name "museum" in an organization implies intellectual and academic integrity, disciplined objectivity, and studied authority over the subjects it embraces. Engaging in a partnership with a paranormal group, it seems to me, might have a place in an entertainment theme park, but not in a museum.
Stephen Nowlin
Director, Williamson Gallery
Art Center College of Design
MS013: Paranormal Investigations in Museums and Historic Sites
Instructor: David Harvey
Price: $99
Dates: Sep 17 to Sep 21, 2012
Description:
Many museums and historic sites are being contacted by paranormal groups
for permission to conduct investigations on their sites. There has been
an explosion of interest in the paranormal in the past ten years with
over a thousand teams and groups in the USA. There are also millions who
follow this on television and other media. When a museum or historic
site manager is approached by these groups there are many concerns, but
there is also the potential for it to become a new marketing and income
generating activity for the organization. This course is designed to
give you the tools to have a constructive dialogue with these groups and
to be able to develop a policy / program that best benefits your
institution.
This short course will introduce you to Paranormal Groups. You will
learn how these groups investigate and explore, the pros and cons of
developing a policy and how to include them in your programs. The
Paranormal Groups also need to be educated about the perspectives and
mission of Museums and Historic Sites to appreciate how we operate.
There can be benefits in understanding and working with each other. We
will take you through the research, methods and equipment and approaches
to public outreach by the paranormal teams.
We will address their perspectives and concerns. We will also go through
the perspectives, equipment and policies of museums and our concerns.
Then we will go through the potential benefits for both sides and how
you can best take advantage of the public interest in this to develop
policies and programs that enhance your marketing and program efforts in
a way that protects your integrity and collections, yet brings more
people in your doors.
Logistics:
Participants in Paranormal Investigations in Museums and Historic Sites
will read literature and participate in two one-hour chats to discuss
Paranormal Investigations in Museums and Historic Sites. Each student
should read course materials and prepare questions or comments to share
with the other students in the chat. This is a mini-course and takes no
more than 10 hours of a student's time. This is an opportunity to
brain-storm with colleagues about what works and what doesn't work.
To reserve a spot in the course, pay at
The Instructor:
Dave Harvey is currently a consultant to the producers of a new National
Geographic Television Series, America's Lost Treasures, set in museums
across the USA. David is also a senior conservator with Rosa Lowinger
and Associates - specializing in Objects, Architecture, and Sculpture.
He has thirty years of diverse experience in conservation,
archaeological fieldwork, and American living history museum craftwork
and interpretation. David was the archaeological conservator for the
James River Institute for Archaeology, The Yorktown Archaeological
trust, and the Virginia Company Foundation doing fieldwork, artifact
cataloguing, scientific analysis, and the conservation and stabilization
of diverse historical and prehistoric archaeological artifacts. He was
the lab manager for the Metals & Arms conservation lab at Colonial
Williamsburg. He was also responsible for the design and equipment
specifications for the new Metals &Arms laboratory, X-radiography
facility, and Analytical Laboratory in the DeWitt Wallace Collections &
Conservation Building on the Bruton Heights School Education Center
Campus. David was appointed Head of the Objects Conservation Department
at The Rocky Mountain Conservation Center at the University of Denver,
was the proprietor of his own professional conservation and consulting
company Artifacts, and was the Senior Associate Conservator for Griswold
Conservation Associates. David is a Professional Associate of The
American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and has served as the local
arrangements chair for the annual AIC meeting, program chair, chair, and
emeritus chair of the Objects specialty group and editor of the New
Materials and Research Column for the AIC News. David has pursued
educational outreach during his career in diverse media such as
scientific/technical journals, popular magazines and journals,
television, and audio-visual lectures & workshops.
--
Brad Bredehoft
Sales and Technology Manager
Northern States Conservation Center
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