unit four
Nature as Artifact: Commodifying the Natural

 

 

cultural artifacts:

Rainforest Cafe
The Nature Company / Discovery Store

reading assignments:

• jennifer price,"looking for nature at the mall: a field guide to the nature company" from uncommon ground ed. cronon (electronic reserve)
• john beardsley, "kiss nature goodbye: marketing the great outdoors" harvard design magazine, Winter/Spring 2000, No., 10 (pdf online)

field work presentations ii:

selling the natural
(student field work reports on rainforest cafe or the nature company/discovery store)
professor's guidelines for student field work projects
sample field work paper

In Class Screening:

Donna Haraway Reads The National Geographic on Primates (Paper Tiger Television)

How does the "cultured" gorilla, i.e. Koko, come to represent universal man? Author and culture critic Donna Haraway untangles the web of meanings, tracing what gets to count as nature, for whom and when, and how much it costs to produce nature at a particular moment in history for a particular group of people. A feminist journey through the anthropological junglescape. Haraway is the author of Simians, Cyborgs and Women.

at the end of this unit you should be able to define these key terms:

• nature as a social construct (See Excerpt on The Cultural Construction of Nature, Marianne Elis. Lien)

additional resources:

Student Class Notes pt 1 [rainforest cafe student observations] (c) Joseph Varrisco
Student Class Notes pt 2 [nature as artifact] (c) Joseph Varrisco

External Links for Donna Haraway

very thorough annotated haraway links

donna haraway at voxygen

popculture.com list of haraway links & texts

 

nature marketing sites:

the nature company / discovery store

the rainforest cafe

" Rainforest Cafe® is A Wild Place to Shop and Eat®! Our unique restaurant and retail concept is an adventure through the most realistic indoor rain forest ever created! Discover amazingly lush surroundings, cascading waterfalls, and beautiful giant aquariums. Savor our fresh, original menu selections, influenced by the cuisines of Mexico, Asia and the Caribbean. Your Adventure is About to Begin! Rainforest Cafe® is a safari for the senses! Enjoy traditional fare with tropical flair under a jungle canopy. Begin your dining adventure with an exotic drink or smoothie from the bar. When it's time to eat, you'll find our creative cuisine. Inspired by the flavors of Mexico, the Caribbean, and Asia, there's something for everyone! After dinner, enjoy dessert or relax and let the sights and sounds of the rain forest surround you!

* A lush jungle canopy
* A spectacular fiber-optic starscape
* The rumble of tropical thunderstorms
* Animated wildlife "

 

natural history museums:

field museum of natural history

american museum of natural history

listen to radio show on pickled heads and natural history musuems