The Herbarium: Research, Art & Botany
Course Description
Summary
An herbarium is a museum of pressed plants, a record of flora following a system that dates back to the 16th century. Large herbaria at institutions like D.C.’s Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Chicago’s Field Museum, Cambridge’s Harvard University, and London’s Kew Gardens contain millions of specimens, collected from around the world. But, most herbaria are small herbaria, with less than 10,000 specimens. The Herbarium at 51³ÉÈËÁÔÆæ is a textbook small herbarium comprising mostly student collections from the local flora, especially the campus forest. In this class, students will engage in hands-on work in the Bennington Herbarium and learn to create, digitize, and accession specimens into our library of pressed plants. We will read broadly in the peer-reviewed literature on long-standing and cutting edge research grounded in herbarium specimens. We will explore the connection between herbaria and art — from Kate Furbish’s 19th century watercolors of the Maine flora to contemporary work like Carly Glovinski’s Almanac at MASS MoCA.
Learning Outcomes
- Read and interpret peer-reviewed literature in the fields of botany, herbaria, and plant ecology.
- Practice curatorial skills in a working academic herbarium.
- Evaluate how herbaria and specimens are used to support conservation management and art. Insert yourself into the scholarly conversations on the role of herbaria in academia, conservation, and outreach.
- Engage in creative outreach projects to raise awareness and enthusiasm for our Bennington Herbarium and our local ecology.
Prerequisites
prior biology course and instructor's permission
Please contact the faculty member : cmcdonoughmackenzie@bennington.edu
Cross List
- Education
- Environment