Jenny Rock - Lecturer
| Jenny Rock. |
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contact phone 4795014
I am interested in the aesthetics of science:
- how aesthetics contribute to conceptualisation and craft within science,
- and how they can be better integrated into science communication.
I think when we recognise more of the common ground between science and "other" (art, humanities etc) then we can begin to recast science as the human enterprise that it is. -And in so doing, make science an enterprise that public and professionals find more approachable, interactive and engaging.
My background is diverse, including a BA in Human Ecology, a PhD in Zoology, and long trackrecord in visual/creative arts. My scientific research has encompassed multiple fields from environmental physiology to molecular ecology and evolutionary genomics. I am also an intaglio and relief printmaker, and published poet. The common theme is that I find all these fields -and more- crossfertilise and integrate productively: Our understanding of the world is only limited by our reluctancy to think outside our box!
Understanding and communicating science in its wider historical/cultural and aesthetic context:
One of the keys to communicating science effectively is finding a common ground without "us vs. them" (public vs scientist) divides. Essential to this, I believe, is understanding and communicating science as the human enterprise that it is. We need to recognise the historical conditions and cultural ideologies that influenced our conceptualisation of scientific problems in the first place. This requires a philosophical approach and understanding of our human impact on science and its relationships to society. My background in Human Ecology has fostered long-term interests in integrating the sciences and humanities from both global and local perspectives to question: How has biology and natural science shaped our human history, and visa versa, how has our history shaped our view of biology and our environment?
Understanding the processes which shape our scientific knowledge, the structures of thought and learning, is important to communicating it effectively and emotively. (It also presents lots of interesting stories in itself!). Key themes I promote in my research and teaching, is to think critically, to draw context (and be inspired!) at an interdisciplinary level, and to hold a responsibility to communicate.
Paradigm shifts in science:
My scientific research has addressed several paradigms in biology, from our view of oceans and marine connectivity, to ectothermy and our assumptions of environmental stability, to genome evolution and notions of living fossils and DNA function. (For more information and links to papers see preceding web site at http://mefgl.bangor.ac.uk/%7Ebssc04/jrresearch.htm ). Not only has my research reassessed various scientific assumptions and interpretations, but continually I have sought to understand the historical drivers of paradigms. What has become clear is that in many cases the original paradigms were formed in part due to assumptions stemming from an aesthetic. Indeed it appears that the endurance of a scientific paradigm may often to be linked to the strength of an associated aesthetic. In other words an aesthetic (typically visual) impression of an environment, or organism, or process has often shaped and entrained the hypotheses we have pursued as scientists. To me this illustrates what bedfellows science and the art s/humanities truly are, and given this two-way interchange, how useful it is to promote their integration in the communication of science.
Sci-Art:
Visual images can encapsulate and rapidly communicate complex scientific associations. Emotively, they can speed us to an intellectual point that would be slow to reach with text. For these reasons alone, communicating science should involve the arts. But art is not just illustration and, though often dichotomised as 'the two cultures' it is not the opposite of science. I am interested in investigating the relationships between science and the arts/humanities, the modern and historical drivers of this divide, and how these disciplines can better work together. Philosophically I am intrigued by the commonalities of both, and so I am interested in exploring not only in their potential for cross-fertilisation but also convergence.
For an example of my Sci-Art interests see 'Art and Polar Oceans' page on the International Polar Year website www.ipy.org/feature/item/2134-polar-oceans-and-art. Some additional images can be seen at ElfenCelf Gallery www.elfen-celf.com). Merging my interests in art, environment and culture I have also been involved in several animation film projects/installations (through Stiwdiotwrch) which incorporate archaeology, anthropology and biology, collagraph artwork, poetry, music and folklore, to explore the history of Wales from neolithic to contemporary times. (see 'Observations of an Alien', 'Mona', etc www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkDie7vsmXA, Stiwdiotwrch for further examples).
I am just developing my research and teaching agenda at Univ of Otago and have multiple collaborative projects at the concept stage. I look forward to involving postgrads in this research at every opportunity. I'll trial some of these ideas in the postgrad paper 'Critical Thinking in Science Communication' which I will teach in second semester July-Oct 2010.
COMING SOON to this space: outline of project concepts.