Royal Ontario Museum
The day started with a walk downtown to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). There was a little oopsie with the schedule, since we were supposed to start at 9:30 a.m. but my professor thought it was 10 a.m., so…it still worked out, no worries!
We started off the tour by talking with Dave Ireland, Managing Director of Biodiversity Programs at the ROM, about an Environmental Visual Communication (EVC) program offered through Fleming College in partnership with ROM. This program lasts a year and teaches students how to communicate science in a visual format, using the exhibits at ROM for practice. We talked about this program because, starting this year, the EVC program will partner with my science communication program, so graduates of EVC can join our program in an expedited manner! |
My best friend did her undergraduate history thesis on the Norse, specifically Ivarr the Boneless, so when I saw the ROM was hosting a traveling exhibition from Sweden on Vikings, I just had to go check it out for her sake.
This exhibition focused on stripping away the characterization of Vikings as bloodthirsty, sinister barbarians and showing them as humans, with their own culture, society, and beliefs. In this regard, the exhibition did a good job, but I was disappointed by the lack of information on famous historical Viking figures (i.e., there was no mention of Ivarr, so sad). |
The whole ROM visit took only two hours, and then we rushed off to our next stop: Discovery Channel and Daily Planet!
Our connection to Daily Planet is Alan Nursall, one of the founders of Science North (this is the science center my program partners with for several classes). Nursall regularly appeared on Daily Planet to engage the public with science through his special, the Alan Nursall Experience. He connected our program director with the hosts of Daily Planet, and a visit to see a filming of the show became a staple of the annual SciComm field trip.
One of the two hosts, Dan Riskin, met us before the show to talk, and he was so nice and welcoming to us all! Once the time for filming began, Dan led us to the studio, and we got to stand offstage and watch while he and Ziya Tong, the other host, recorded their parts. | |