Principles of Sociology/Culture

Subtopics:

This American Life - Simulated Worlds - Civil war reenactments, wax museums, simulated coal mines, fake ethnic restaurants, an ersatz Medieval castle and other re-created worlds that thrive all across America. Act One. National Tour. Host Ira Glass uses Italian author Umberto Eco's essay "Travels in Hypereality" as a guidebook to American simulated worlds. Eco says that the urge to create these miniature simulated worlds is a very American impulse--a significant American aesthetic--and one that's not often discussed. Ira visits the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, plays clips from Jessica Yu's documentary on Civil War reenactors (called Men of Reenaction and available from the Independent Television Service at 800/343-4727), stops by a fake coal mine under Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, and discusses "the poor man's Hearst Castle"--a California hotel called the Madonna Inn. (17 minutes) Act Two. Dinosaur Exhibit. Writer Jack Hitt discovers that the world of dinosaurs is a man-made creation, a simulated world that may or may not accurately reflect what happened on earth 100 million years ago. Talking with dinosaur experts like Jack Horner (the dinosaur expert whose work was the basis of much of the film Jurassic Park Hitt finds that most of what you think you know about dinosaurs is probably wrong, and that Americans' ideas about dinosaurs go through fashions--fashions that reflect the national mood. We believed dinosaurs were more aggressive when we were on the brink of World Wars One and Two. And these days we focus on their family values. (13 minutes) Act Three. Medieval Times. Ira takes a Medieval scholar from the University of Chicago, Michael Camille, to Medieval Times – a chain of fake castles where visitors eat Medieval food and drink Medieval Pepsi and watch a supposed recreation of a Medieval jousting tournament. The scholar finds that there are many historical inaccuracies, but that Medieval Times does capture something essential and interesting about the spirit of the Middle Ages. (19 minutes) Act Four. Simulating Reality on Morning Edition. Ira Glass worked for NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered for 17 years, and shares a few thoughts on the devices he and his colleagues used to simulate the real world on those shows. (2 minutes)

Richard Shweder's "Principles of Sociology/Moral Maps, First World Conceits, and the New Evangelists"