Micro-Interactions of Cosmic Proportions: Mediating Human-Cosmos Relationships in the Planetarium

• In Event: 067 - Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Constructing Nature

Abstract

The Earth is but one part of the greater cosmos of planets, stars, and galaxies. In this paper I widen the scope of environmental sociology to incorporate nature beyond Earth, and I examine how Adler Planetarium uses exhibits and small-group interaction to mediate human relationships with the cosmos. Through ethnographic observations and interviews with employees, I explore how the planetarium facilitates a connection—at times even a sense of closeness or intimacy—with a cosmos that is geographically distant from, and not very salient to, its visitors. Employees facilitate connection between their visitors and cosmos through three mechanisms: facilitating sensory experiences, translating unfamiliar scales of measurement, and constructing feelings of awe. Similar mechanisms could be employed by environmental scholars and activists to make global environmental problems on Earth seem more “real” to the public.

Author

• Megan S. Albaugh Bonham, Northwestern University