Presentations

Cold War in the Classroom (2011), at Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Friday, September 30, 2011

Cold War in the Classroom

In 1956, the head of the Atomic Energy Commission, Lewis Strauss, declared that the United States was waging a “Cold War of the Classroom” against the Soviet Union.  New scientific curricula and toys trained children to think about the world in a way deemed...

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Tangible Things (2011), at Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tangible Things bannerWhat do a Galapagos tortoise, a teapot, and a hundred-year-old tortilla have in common? They were part of an exhibition that brought together over 200 objects from the back rooms of Harvard¹s museums and libraries, raising questions about distinctions between nature...

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Sensations of Tone: Acoustic Instruments and the Sight of Sound (2010), at Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Monday, October 25, 2010

This exhibition featured 19th century acoustic instruments that made sound visible through ribbons of light, vibrating flames, and patterns of sand.  It was part of a larger program, “Sensations of Tone: Wave Physics and the Creative Arts,” in which spectral music was performed by soprano Jane Sheldon and the Firebird Ensemble in the exhibition gallery.

Fugitive Sparrows: An Emily Dickinson Installation (2010), at Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Wednesday, April 7, 2010

In celebration of National Poetry Month, this installation showcased artwork by Zachary Sifuentes based on Emily Dickinson’s poetry and creative process, using optical instruments, letterpress printing forms, poems placed in Harvard Yard, and abstract art made up of the text of Dickinson’s complete works.  The installation challenged viewers to confront the act of reading by having them read excerpts from Dickinson’s poems by looking through telescopes and lenses, into a mirror, or following a line of sight in an 1844 dictionary. 

Co-curated with Zachary Sifuentes.

From Lab & Field (2010 and ongoing), at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Monday, March 22, 2010

Historical instruments used by Harvard scientists are part of changing exhibits in the meeting spaces and offices of several senior deans of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University:

  • Dean (Chief Academic Officer)

  • Administrative Dean of Science

  • Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs

Student Exhibitions (2008-2011), at Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Thursday, May 1, 2008

As Curator of the Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, I work closely with faculty and students in courses where the students collectively mount a temporary exhibition in lieu of writing individual term papers.  I mentor the students through the process, coaching them through the physical development, design, and installation phases of their show.  Class exhibitions have included:

  • Thinking Things,  History of Science 290: Critical History: Curating Images, Objects, Media (Spring 2011), Professors Peter...
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The World of 1607 (2007-2008), at Jamestown Settlement, Virginia, Sunday, April 1, 2007

This exhibition–which was divided into four cycles–commemorated the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, by placing America's first permanent English colony in a global context, portraying a larger world of discovery, strife, expansion, innovation, artistic expression, and cultural exchange.  The conceptual framework of the exhibition and accompanying catalog were developed in collaboration with a group of 28 internationally recognized scholars, each of whom explored an aspect of the intellectual and cultural life of peoples around the globe at the beginning of...

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Time, Life, & Matter: Science in Cambridge (2005 and ongoing), at Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Tuesday, November 29, 2005

TLM gallery view 2006 This award-winning permanent exhibition in the Putnam Gallery of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments traces the development of scientific activity at Harvard, and explores how science was promoted or affected by religion, politics, philosophy, art, and...

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