Since my internship is with one of the Smithsonian programs (the center for folklife and cultural heritage), I've been trying to get to know the other facets of the SI and the network of programs available to the public. With my free time today, I decided to go out museum hopping to fill in some of the missing elements of my Smithsonian-wide tour.
I started out at the National Museum of the American Indian, where one can explore the indigenous cultures of America through material culture, sound, and video recordings. I had been looking forward to visiting this museum as it was a chance for me to explore a piece of my own heritage. This museum is set apart by it's unique floor plans (made up of many circles, reminiscent of other elements of Native American culture) and touch-screen computers on which visitors can obtain information about the items.
Next, I visited the Air and Space Museum. Although I had already visited it a number of times, I wanted to stop by to see one of the Einstein Planetarium shows ("Black Holes"), which use a combination of images obtained by telescopes/satellites, and scientifically accurate computer models to approximate visuals representations of astronomical phenomena. After this, I visited the Hirshorn Museum, which features contemporary art, including a current exhibit by Yves Klein which focuses on the interaction of color.
While the SI is considered a non-profit by IRS standards, it receives over half of its funding from the federal government. Each year, the SI writes a 200+ page budget justification to Congress which outlines Institution's financial needs and justifies them in terms of public good achieved. This reminded me of our class discussions and readings; we have been discussing the analysis of policy in terms of two or more variables with a potential relationship to one another. Here we see that policy makers are asked to make decisions based on a proposed relationship between two variables (public good/education and funding) which are suggested to have a positive relationship. -KS
You should check out the goSmithsonian trek that's running at the National Mall. It's a game that's open until July 24th and you could win an iPad if you're the top scorer. You play using your own smart phones and the game takes you all round 9 of the Smithsonian museums snapping photos, writing haikus and solving challenges. More information is available on their website www.gosmithsonian.com/scvngr/
ReplyDeleteGrab the other interns and check it out!
wow, that's great! Thanks for the tip! KS
ReplyDelete