Creating an Interpretive Program - Part 1: Tangibles, Intangibles, and Universals

For two years this blog has existed with a fair deal of success, however, it as yet has not had a post on how to create an interpretive program. Perhaps it is myopic or trying too hard or another lesson in making assumptions. Aspects of programs have been identified, the methods discussed, the concepts criticized, and the results analyzed, but no step by step explanation has been given of how to actually create a program, from either a talk, activity, pamphlet, or multimedia presentation, excepting creating a written interpretive piece. So, this post begins a series on creating of a program and the essential elements needed to create a effective interpretive program.

Tangible: Fur trapper. Using a beaver pelt (a tangible) to

support a talk about the fur trapper.

One method for creating an interpretive program is following the Interpretive Process Model which is like a flow chart of decisions that help define what the program is about and how it is organized. It begins basically with the concept of tangibles, intangibles, and universals. Tangibles, intangibles, and universals and such were brought up in the interpretive writing post, but I did not go into detail as to what they are about.

The first step is to select a tangible that you, the interpreter, want the visitor to care about. A tangible is anything concrete: animal (dead or alive), vegetable (dead or alive), mineral, made object, place, or sometimes an event. It is something that the visitor can relate to in a sensory fashion - touching, seeing, hearing, sometimes smelling, rarely tasting. This is generally something that can be experienced on or with the intended program. There can also be multiple tangibles but there will usually be at least one that is most symbolic of the choices. More than one can get tricky and difficult, but basic programs will have at least one that acts as the center of what the program is about.

It's hard to take a picture of

intangibles and universals, so here

is a photo of the universe.

Intangibles are little more tricky since they are harder to grasp, figuratively and literally. They are more symbolic or idea based. Examples of intangibles are migration, slavery, freedom, education, and rejection. You cannot hold migration, but you can touch a wagon. You cannot hold slavery, but you can walk through slave quarters. Intangible things spring from the tangible. A single tangible can have many intangible meanings. Stringing multiple tangibles to their collective intangible to focus meanings is the basis of the craft of interpretation and from that collection should point to a universal.

A universal is just that; it is something that we all experience and find some meaning from, regardless of who we are, but each view a little differently. These are also intangible by nature and are very broad in category such as life, death, hunger, struggle, survival, and love. A universal should then reconnect to the visitor on that level for they should also experience these as they are universal to all. They connect to both the tangible and intangible to the visitor so that they can examine their own intellectual and emotional understandings and find meaning in their visit.

A collection with hardly any meaning, from this blog post 

Ignoring one of these three elements makes the interpretive program weak. A program talking about ideas and ideals without anything solid is a philosophy lecture. A program with no intangibles is a collection of things without meaning. A program with tangibles and intangibles but no universals is mildly amusing but left wanting in meaning as well; it fails to answer the question, "So why should I care?"
So for the first step of the Interpretive Process Model is to select a tangible that you want the visitor to care about. You want them to care. You want them to make not only an intellectual connection but an emotional one, because people will value and protect that which they care about. If making people realize that a hypothetical endangered flower only blooms here and how crucial it is to the vista and the food web and how that ultimately affects them, they will help to protect it, for example. It is the job of the interpreter to interpret the selected tangible's intangible message to make a universal connection that reveals the value in the tangible so that all people can agree it needs to be valued and protected from this point on. Because of this, the tangible must be something that has an intangible meaning.

Tangible: Wagons, Cars, Intangible: Migration,

 problem solving, comparison

Universal: Problem solving, improvement

Since tangibles can have all sorts of meanings, the interpreter must select an intangible meaning to

follow up on it as the direction of the program. Once the direction of the intangible message is
determined, other tangibles can be used to help reinforce that message. Are there other tangibles at your disposal that support your program? The more tangibles there are that support the intangible message, the more complicated the program. Throughout the program, the universal connection is subtly reinforced, so take some time to make sure that the message is something everyone gets.

Every great program starts with excellent planning. Using the Interpretive Process Model to plan the program helps identify all the essential elements of great interpretation. This first installment on program creation will be followed up by developing themes based on your selections made from this session, so stay tuned next month for Part 2 of Creating a Program series.