The scholarship for our project is embedded in noticing and understanding multiple perspectives. We want to explore this through art, as well as teach a way to organize these thoughts through concept mapping. One of the first articles we found about this was Thirteen Ways of Looking at an Invasive Species by Larson (2007). In the article he explores the fuzzy line between nature and culture; exposing the reader to positive and negative methods of looking at invasive species. Rats are often seen as “invasive” and by looking at rats through these perspectives we are able to gain a better understanding to rats as a whole. The concept of hybridity was expressed by Larson (2007), as well as White’s (1999) The Problem With Purity. Through the art and the concept mapping we hope to show that rats are not just one entity, they are a combined expression of social constructions.
We hope that throughout the workshops we can use Latour’s (2005) Actor Network Theory as a mechanism for other’s to understand where their perspectives come from, and how they collectively fit together. In other words, we can use ANT to ascertain the multidimensional roles, identities and sentiments that are associated with a certain subject depending on the spatial, temporal, and cultural context it is found in. Furthermore, it helps us envision our own role and identity in relation to the subject and how particular institutions designate sentiments to forward a particular narrative, whether intentionally or not. Thinking about how and what identities are associated with rats and how these have transformed over time begins to reveal the thin veil that culture and context thrusts onto these creatures, through which we are able to conceptualize the various histories, spaces, and roles rats inhabit in relation to humans. Similarly, it reveals portions of the human’s histories, spaces, and roles in relation to the character we necessitate for these creatures. In other words, how do our personal and cultural interpretation and interaction of rats reveal how we understand our position in the universe?