Webinars & Presentations
Who Owns the Night Sky? Teaching the Contested Landscape of Hehuan Mountain Dark-Sky Park through Negotiation Theater
Focusing on Taiwan’s Hehuan Mountain Dark-Sky Park, this presentation explores issues involving landscape, scientific knowledge, and Indigenous peoples. It will introduce and trace the historical development of the Hehuanshan region in Taiwan, including Japanese colonial rule, the authoritarian control exercised by the postwar KMT government, tourism development following the lifting of martial law, and the controversies that arose after the establishment of the Dark-Sky Park.
Alongside this discussion the presenter, Hong-Bing, will share their experience with facilitating a teaching activity in a university general education course. Based on Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory (ANT), using a teaching method called “Negotiation Theater.” Through role-playing, negotiation, and debate, students represent different actors, including Indigenous peoples, astronomy organizations, tourism operators, local governments, plants and animals, the starry sky, and universities. Participants will be guided through this method and how it might be applied in different educational settings along with guidance for teachers developing related curricula and lesson plans.
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