American Museum of Natural History

I have been to the American Museum of Natural History (http://www.amnh.org/) several times in the past. I have also been to several other natural history museums and after visiting a couple of them, they look pretty much the same: exhibits of stuffed animals, dioramas of how people lived, rocks, minerals, meteors, insects in glass cases.

But I was particularly excited to revisit the AMNH because we've discussed how natural history museums in the western world use to taxonomize other cultures- one article had an exhibit at AMNH as an example. This means that cultures that are different from the west are categorized as less developed than theirs, so the more different the culture is, the lower its rank in the hierarchy. I won't get into details because this intro will get longer and longer (if you're interested, I can send a copy the essay I wrote for my class on this topic). I'm sure you know how I feel about this considering that I come from the orient.

But I digress. I was excited to visit AMNH also because they have a new temporary exhibit on Climate Change. Having just finished a course on museum exhibitions, I was curious to see how they presented the exhibition. I was very impressed at how they were able to translate abstract concepts into concrete and visual examples! I think that it's a very effective way of making the exhibit accessible to a wider audience, making facts more relevant and getting their message across.

Whenever I visit a museum, I always look for their kids or exploration/discovery section. AMNH has changed theirs since I last visited, which is probably expected considering my last visit was seven years ago! I included below some pictures of the activities at the AMNH's discovery center designed for both kids and adults.