MOAS Blog

2019 will usher in a new celebration of science fiction in the MOAS Planetarium. We are excited to bring a series of influential sci-fi motion pictures to our dome, taking advantage of the unique and intimate layout of the Planetarium facility. The Planetarium will not only allow us to project and display the movies in a novel way, we will also take an opportunity to use our digital universe to hold a Q&A about the realities...

Modern Purple Romance

When walking through a museum, marveling at the paintings and artifacts that are showcased and preserved in its spaces, it is not often one pays much attention to what is outside of those walls. Yet, housed within the property of the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art, home to the largest collection of Florida themed oil and watercolor paintings in the world, is a stunning outdoor courtyard...

Behind the Costumes

Recently retired, Jean Lawrence Druesedow was director of the Kent State University Museum form 1993-2018. She was previously Associate Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1984-1992). She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Speech and Theatre Arts from Indiana University and taught public speaking and costume design for the theater...

ICON and Space News (Volume 1)

On November 2nd, I had the opportunity to participate in a media event for the launch of the ICON spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. During a two-year mission, the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) will study the frontier of space: the dynamic zone, high in our atmosphere, where Earth’s weather meets space weather. In this region, the thin gases at the edge of space...

Latest Blog Posts

History of Thanksgiving

Today Thanksgiving in the United States is associated with fall, food, family, and football. It wasn’t always that way, however. Originally Thanksgiving was a day(s) of prayer thanking God for blessings such as a military victory, a treaty, the end of a drought, etc. A day of thanksgiving could be declared by a community or national leader in response to one of the aforementioned events. The day of thanksgiving that Americans associate...

Giant Megalodon Shark

The August 10, 2018, release of the movie, “The Meg,” creates the perfect opportunity to learn the real truth about this extinct prehistoric monster fish. Megalodon carcharodon was the top predator that terrorized the oceans of the world from 20 million years ago to its disappearance from the fossil record 2 million years ago. Being one of the largest vertebrate carnivores that ever lived...

Good Speed, Parker Solar Probe!

In 1957, Eugene Parker proposed some radical new theories on the nature of our home star, the Sun. Six decades later, his dreams of unlocking the secrets of the Sun are becoming a reality. In the early hours of August 12, 2018, the Parker Solar Probe lifted off aboard a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 37...

A Closer Look at "100 Faces of War"

Witness the pride, sacrifice, and humanity of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan through this traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian, featuring 100 oil portraits. Representing a cross-section of home states, military branches, jobs, and backgrounds, every portrait includes a candid first-hand account of war.