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This book couples anecdotes with real data to help nature lovers, zoo staff, zoo fans, and even zoo foes understand the many ways zoos are conceptualized, used, and valued, unpacking what seems to happen in the minds of diverse zoo-goers to highlight powerful opportunities for learning, engagement, and activism.
List of contents
1. Context; 2. Ontology - animal exhibits and conservation goals; 3. Learning - social experiences and captive animals; 4. Morality - zoos as moral actors; 5. Pleasure - the educational leisure value proposition; 6. Meaning - constructing knowledge through discourse, dialogue, and metaphor; 7. Bonding - a socio-biological human need with important zoo mission implications; 8. Connectedness - animals, continuity, and belonging; 9. Identity - discovering self; 10. Activation - pro-environmental behavior; 11. Impact - collective conservation action; 12. Integration - the socially valuable zoo.
About the author
John Fraser is a conservation psychologist, architect, and educator with over thirty years working with zoos and aquariums, and studying how they function in society. He is the President and CEO of Knology, a research institute in the USA, serves as Editor-in-Chief of Curator: The Museum Journal, and is a Past-President of the Society for Environment, Population and Conservation Psychology.Tawnya Switzer is a collaborative writer, who supports thought leaders at Knology, Open Society Foundations, Union Congregational Church, and the Transformative Justice in Education Center at UC Davis. A patterns-thinker, Tawnya focuses on dynamics, strategies, and high-impact communications that advance well-being, equity, justice, and sustainability.
Summary
This book couples anecdotes with real data to help nature lovers, zoo staff, zoo fans, and even zoo foes understand the many ways zoos are conceptualized, used, and valued, unpacking what seems to happen in the minds of diverse zoo-goers to highlight powerful opportunities for learning, engagement, and activism.
