Following on from the event in September 2016, we are pleased to announce that we will be holding a second workshop in December 2017 (talks and blogposts from the last workshop can be found here: www.poppalaeo.com). The aim, as with the last event, is to encourage dialogue between palaeontologists, science communicators, artists, museum professionals, and social sciences and humanities academics, and discuss the public role of the deep-time sciences in current society and historically.
At the first event, we went through a variety of different topics and issues, with discussions on the prominence of dinosaurs in public discussions of palaeontology, the role of artwork in disseminating and discussing palaeontological theories, and some historical and current case-studies of palaeontological outreach. The main themes for this workshop will carry on from open questions left hanging at the end of the last event. In particular, we’ll be engaging with questions of motivation and audience. Key questions will be:
- Why popularize palaeontology at all? What have been the difference motives and agendas for this, and how have they affected popularization efforts?
- How has the public position of palaeontological research affected scientific research and scientific careers? What are the potential costs and risks of making palaeontology a ‘popular’ science?
- What audiences have traditionally been interested in palaeontology, and why? What audiences should we try to reach with palaeontological outreach today, and how?
The workshop will also feature a pop-up exhibition of palaeoart on the evening of Wednesday 13th December at the KCL Strand Campus (more details to follow).
Current attendees include: Paul Brinkman, Steve Brusatte, Mark Carnall, Vicky Coules, Richard Fallon, Melanie Keene, Darren Naish, Bob Nicholls, Ilja Nieuwland, Paige Madison, Beth Windle and Mark Witton.
If you are interested in attending or participating please get in touch withchris.manias AT kcl.ac.uk. The workshop does have fairly strict limits on numbers, owing to space and funds: if we can’t fit you into this event, we will certainly keep you posted about future events and activities. The talks will also be recorded and uploaded to the workshop website.