Critiquing the science of the Korean War at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Bradley Burt, Clarion business director

For the “Critiquing Science on Display Assignment,” I visited the Korean War display at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum seeking the scientific bits from an anthropological perspective of war and military service. The critique perspective critically examined accuracy and the dialogical connect regarding the modeling of exhibit arrangements with artifacts and displays.

Overview of critiqued materials on the basis of class instruction material

Exhibits are forms of visual publication. The critical appraisal of the Korean War exhibit analyzed the collaboration of branches of service and overall impression as an exhibit, which prepared notes according critique writing handouts from this week’s online class. The experience was rewarding and have a new appreciation when visiting monuments and war exhibits as a blogger and journalism etiquette columnist. Etiquette is hardly a word to describe the Korean War from an anthropological perspective. “Brutal” and “barbaric” are the terms that come to mind when analyzing war. For the project, the subjective mindset was left in my backpack. Visitors must leave backpacks behind at the front desk prior to entrance to the museum.

War is flux: The science of colonization
Over the course of several years attending both Madison College and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, I began meeting with the curator of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in 2019 for the Practicum 2 course.

Writing about historically significant items brings pleasure and joy. Using the ethnographic survey approach, I learned in sociology, helped me remove prejudice and report according to the checklist we were provided in class this week.
The exhibits on display at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum share one thing in common: each is a relic from history. From a critical analysis, a display must be written either as Chicago, Associated Press or American Psychological Association styles.

From a historically accurate perspective, each writing style represents either a social science, a timestamp or a reflection. The Korean War exhibit has an anthropological survey style offering onlookers narratives, timelines and historically accurate information. The museum, from an overview vantage point, took the visitor through history over the course of American war history eras.

Social science critical view analysis
Archaeology and anthropology work in unison. The archaeologist collects the artifacts, and the anthropologist registers them. The overview is the anthropological survey. I learned, in the Anthropology: Myth, Magic and Religion course, the survey starts when an anthropologist marks the surveyed area with rope, tape and flags until the anthropologist decides the survey is done.

Museums use anthropologists writeups for displaying items, which use APA style. Collaboratively, when sifting through the ashes of war, forensic analysis is required for identifying charred remains and badly blown-up items, which is a forensic pathologist’s job. There are many vantage points that collaborate amongst many forms of science. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum critique examined the writing styles, the relics, items retrieved and returned from the combat zone and the evolution of weaponry that the museum displays.

Anthropologist Harvey Whitehouse and Philosopher Dr. John Rawls are the two social scientists who’ve made a lasting impression on America with ethical approaches to war correspondence publication, whom are the professionals I use for analyzing rhetoric and dialogue. For military dress inspection, I use my Cornell West Point note taking style for comparing exhibit notes.

Through the eyes of both interactive investigative journalist and 10th Mountain Division artillery dress inspection training, the evaluation of military displays took into consideration the textual communication the curator used. On a side note, in my opinion, I would hope a veteran museum would take military protocol into consideration and did not see the writeups written the same.

The goal for the exhibit critique sought writing a collaboration between reader and writer regarding the value of displaying war material ethically. Unless the reader served in the military, the understanding of what goes on in the military cannot be taken into consideration as museums cater to all. Scratch that off the list for now.

In cinema, oftentimes military uniforms are out of order only because Hollywood is required to do so. Exhibits are not cinema. When visiting Washington, D.C. and witness narrated videos instead of screen-printed write ups like witnessed at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, I get irritated because narrated videos are subjective on the bias of the storyteller telling the visitor what they believe is most important. Kudos to the curator for not taking this approach.

The views shared ethnographically survey exhibits and their value as relics of war historically narrating the process of colonization starting from the macro view of the Korean War invasion, which narrated a micro view of the specific event, then examined write ups and narratives on the premise of the outcome of the Korean War police action from a scientific approach to the comparison and analysis of reporting styles.

The art of war: The Korean War crucible as an exhibit
Whitehouse examines COVID in contrast to war. Whitehouse believes conflict narrates the crucible of society through “identity fusion,” which he discusses regarding the Taliban’s winning in Afghanistan found on his press page. From an overview examination of war, an exhibit shares how the crucible of resolving conflict sculpts and shapes nations. The exhibit critique examines relics and critically analyzes the construction of the exhibit on a macro-view basis.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum specializes exclusively in military history. From a historical vantage point, displays provided mannequins, glass cases, relics, write ups, platforms and staging, along with screen printed back drops sharing the crucible and perspective of war. The level of cleanliness, from a combat and field veteran’s point of view, was amazing. Relics from war are typically worn out or badly damaged. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum did a superb job cleaning and displaying items for all to view. The Korean War began in the ‘50s, which would mean the items on display have aged for over 70 years.

Using typography and publication as an art exhibit
Rawls’ believes “the Doctrine of Double Effect” instructs publishers to consider a tolerance with viewers and provide the viewer with the right to decide the good or bad end. If the publisher decides to write subjectively then do so with the caveat the end must not devalue the mean. War is the mean. The curator provided mostly tangible items and photographs rather than narration. Rawls’ insists the viewer, for publication ethics, receive the “Veil of Ignorance” respect.

Very simply stated, the exhibit critique determines whether or not the curator narrated items objectively with a third-person narrative or subjectively with first-person. The curator built the Korean War exhibit formally and with a professional appearance. The write ups were built in Chicago style and did not witness any grammatical flaws. The micro-view critique, which took up close and personal considerations based on Rawls’ instructions, critically analyzed items by seeking details regarding the items presented without opinion. Only fact and how the words contrast what the exhibit displays.

The exhibit’s brevity
Items examined and critiqued considered information from the “Exhibit Writing Tips” handout. The curator’s use of brevity was the focus of critiquing. The critique of each exhibit in chronological order as listed in the handout starting with “Credit Lines” and concluding with “Talkback Text.” Aside from views, the writeups and narratives provide contrast and details as a scientific communication exchange with visitors. Brevity is the art of narration, which is an Oxford term for being brief. The viewer should walk away feeling informed and not persuaded. The curator did a great job.

Brevity meets the minimum requirement of succinctness, and the write ups felt engaging, which delivered informative details. The research provided by the curator’s oversight shared mindful and helpful information from the vantage point of Rawls’ ethical inspection of published materials.
The material on display allows photographers to take pictures without flash, which is made clear upon entering the gallery. Photography use is a form of publication and must not alter items photographed. Viewers will think critically because the curator’s writeups are objectively telling the story of the Korean War from quotes and anecdotes along with conservative typography.

The “Structuring Exhibit Text” Critique
The micro-view examined all 12 points regarding instructions for structuring text for exhibits from the handout students received as a part of instruction. The handout was used for notetaking and laid aside all prejudice with personal experiences from deployment as a veteran. The writing was difficult to read from afar and had to get up close for reading purposes.

• Titles and headlines: The use of caps does not conform to Associated Press style.
• Intro to text: Italics were not necessarily a writing style only used as an eye catcher.
• Primary or section text: Commas were appropriately used.
• Secondary text or subtext: Paragraphed details made for reading difficulty.
• Sidebars: None
• Object labels: Exhibit did not make clear what items were.
• Image captions: The photography narrative was appropriate and concise.
• Quotes: Quoted field commander and his opinion. Use of ellipses felt clunky. Quotes were not written in Associated Press style and appeared abstract.
• Credit lines: Gen. Douglas MacArthur was not attributed properly in Associated Press style.
• Talkback labels: Made anecdotal references regarding what took place during the war.
• Wayfinding signage: Was not apparent or obvious to the viewer.
• Additional text: Signage did not follow a specific style. Had a hard time making out what signage said from afar, which could cause longer than normal exhibit loitering times.

From the viewer’s vantage point, the exhibit felt alive and detailed historical events well. From a journalist viewpoint, the writeups appeared as amateur or novice. The exhibit artifacts and photographs captured history well but the empty space in “The See-Saw War” writeup had dead space where another picture should have gone or even a map of the terrain would have been helpful. The artifacts felt engaging, and the arrangement of items was positioned professionally for the viewer to connect with other displayed items. Overall, the captions were appropriate lengths and liked the monochrome photographs taken from the war.

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum could use photo slideshows, who noted upon entry, “we have only eight percent of our items displayed from our vault.” Well, that’s great and all but with the invention of interactive media, a photo slideshow could help tell the story with flow codes and cross dissolved Ken Burns Effect storytelling styles through television screens that would allow for a broader display of artifacts through the use of Adobe software. A follow-up interview with the curator has been scheduled and are welcome to listen to exhibit critiques.

The future of interactive storytelling: Convergent media collaboration with the curator
The Korean War display did not mention the role of the Wisconsin Air National Guard, which played a pivoting role with the outcome of the war. After conducting research in college, I later learned the Wisconsin Air National Guard leads the Air Force in strategic decision making for bomber squadrons and will be meeting with the curator to discuss building stories around the interactive storytelling model. Convergent media isn’t just for the news and the press. Museums can take full advantage of the style too.

The upcoming final paper analyzes the work of the University of Wisconsin Missing-in-action Recovery and Identification Project. The museum offered to sit down and discuss a possible photo slideshow regarding the Wisconsin Air National Guard and the last flight of 1st Lt. Jerome A. Volk, whose family is friends with the project’s director. Legislatively, the project has the opportunity to locate three Wisconsin MIAs if the State of Wisconsin approves upcoming bill, Senate Bill 8, which would allocate $360,000 to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Biotechnology Center and help locate Volk as one of the missing pilots. The curator likes the idea of building a legislative exhibit and will be volunteering at the museum in service to the POW MIA families of Wisconsin who do not have an exhibit. The next visit seeks collaborating with the curator to include MIAs with war exhibits.

###JPP