策展作為STS理論實踐：成大博物館《瘟疫來了？！》的展示設計與知識轉譯

Curating as STS-in-Practice: Exhibition Design and Knowledge Translation in NCKU Museum’s“Plague: How Was the Black Death Stopped?”

本研究以國立成功大學博物館2024年特展《瘟疫來了？！》為案例，探討「策展作為STS理論實踐」之可能。分析架構涵蓋兩個層次：其一為歷史層次，探討日治時期（1896–1917）鼠疫防治中科學事實的建構過程；其二為策展層次，檢視當代大學博物館如何在展示實務中進行STS觀點的轉譯。理論上，本文結合Fleck「思維集體」對科學事實建構之論述、Jasanoff「知識共同生產」框架與Spada將博物館視為知識生產與科學—社會對話場域的觀點，界定策展團隊為跨學科轉譯主體，強調透過不同專業背景協商將展覽化為知識共構平臺。方法採質性個案研究，整合策展計劃、跨域會議紀錄與展場非介入式觀察，對位知識建構、協商與轉譯等STS核心概念。內容上，分析涵蓋兩個層面：其一為歷史對象層次，呈現殖民政府如何在「瘴癘之地／防疫之島」的敘事中，透過細菌學實踐確立現代醫學的「科學事實地位」；其二為策展後設層次，藉由「書屋式」情境、多聲道敘事與物質證據（如黃土水塑高木友枝銅像），將抽象STS概念轉譯為易於理解、具體的展示語言。研究發現，此一概念導向的設計有助於將歷史經驗轉化為當代健康治理的反思；博物館展場本身即為知識共同生產的過程與成果展現，凸顯大學博物館作為知識中介、跨域協作與STS對話實驗場域之潛在角色。

This study focuses on the National Cheng Kung University Museum's 2024 special exhibition, ''Plague: How Was the Black Death Stopped?'' as a case study to explore the potential of curating as a practice of Science, Technology, and Society (STS). The analytical framework consists of two levels. Historically, the study examines how scientific facts were constructed regarding plague prevention and control during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan (1896–1917). Additionally, at the curatorial level, it investigates how a contemporary university museum translates perspectives from STS into its exhibition practices.
Theoretically, this study combines several important ideas: Fleck's concept of the ''thought collective'', the social construction of scientific facts, Jasanoff's framework of the co-production of knowledge, and Spada's perspective on museums as venues for knowledge production and dialogue between science and society. It presents the curatorial team as an interdisciplinary translating agent, highlighting how negotiations among individuals from diverse professional backgrounds transform the exhibition into a platform for collaboratively constructing knowledge. From a methodological standpoint, the study employs a qualitative case-study approach. It integrates curatorial plans, meeting minutes from cross-disciplinary discussions, analyzed through Jasanoff's framework, and non-participant gallery observations, aligning these elements with key concepts from Science and Technology Studies (STS), such as knowledge construction, negotiation, and translation.
The discussion unfolds on two interconnected levels analytically. At the historical object level, it examines how the colonial government, through the shifting narrative of Taiwan as a ''land of miasma'' versus an ''island of epidemic prevention,'' employed bacteriological practices to establish the legitimacy of modern medicine as a scientific fact. At the curatorial meta-level, it explores how a ''study-room'' spatial setting, multiple narratives, and an object-based chain of evidence (such as Huang Tu-shui's bust of Takagi Tomoe) translate abstract ideas from Science and Technology Studies (STS) into concrete, accessible exhibition language. This study argues that such a concept-driven design helps transform historical experiences into reflections on contemporary health governance. Furthermore, the exhibition space can be viewed as a site where knowledge is co-produced in both process and outcome, emphasizing the university museum's potential role as a knowledge intermediary, a hub for cross-disciplinary collaboration, and an experimental field for STS dialogue.