John Dorst at Saturday U: Skin Remembers: Taxidermy as Material and Living Memory
Channel: Wyoming Videos
Date: 2013-11-10

Saturday U, Fall Session 2013 was held October 2 at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson.  John Dorst, American Studies Program professor at University of Wyoming presented Skin Remembers: Taxidermy as Material and Living Memory.

Taxidermy, whether as hunting trophy or decor, enacts two kinds of memory. The mounted animal can, of course, recall specific experiences, but the materiality of the object, the skin, also can be understood as memory in that it "remembers" and "reactivates" the living animal, Dorst says. "This philosophical point is not entirely academic," he adds. "For example, it can help us understand something about powerful emotional effects evoked in some of Alfred Hitchcock's films."

Saturday U is free and open to the public. For more details, or to register for college credit or Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB) credit, call Susan Thulin, CWC outreach coordinator, (307) 733-7425.
In its fifth year, Saturday U is a collaborative program connecting popular UW professors with Wyoming residents who have a desire to learn. Saturday University is sponsored by the University of Wyoming, University of Wyoming Foundation and the Wyoming Humanities Council. The program is presented locally by Central Wyoming College, National Museum of Wildlife Art and Teton County Library Foundation.
For more information about Saturday U, visit the website at http://www.uwyo.edu/SaturdayU/ or contact Teton County Library Adult Humanities Coordinator Oona Doherty at 733-2164 ext. 135 or email odoherty@tclib.org .
Video by UW Television, Outreach Technology Services
Camera/Editor: Ali Grossman  apg@uwyo.edu
Copyright 2013 UW Television