CODES 2027 Research Team 2

Category: Uncategorized (Page 4 of 4)

MC #1

October 12, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Cullen Krieg

Dr. Jack

CODES

21 September 2023

Henry Shaw the Wicked Problem

The problem that we are trying to solve is about the past of the Botanical Garden and how Henry Shaw should be recognized as someone completely different. This problem is very vast and can connect to the characteristics of a wicked problem in every way. The characteristics are: Vague problem definition, undefined solution, no endpoint, irreversible, unique, and urgent. I believe that our problem fits within all of these characteristics because no matter what Henry Shaw will always have an impact on the Botanical Garden in both the positive way and the negative way. 

Henry Shaw has the characteristic of “vague problem definition” because there are so many more people related back to the Botanical Garden and those stakeholders may not want to hear what we have to bring up about Henry Shaw the Botanical Garden’s history. Those stakeholders may have invested or donated towards the Botanical Garden and with this new information becoming more relevant it could lead to less attraction towards the attraction which would be bad for the garden. 

He is also considered to be as an “undefined solution” because there’s always going to be an answer to everything but there is always going to be opinions towards that solution causing it to be undefined. One opinionated solution could have a worse outcome than the other opinionated solution which will lead to more undefined information. 

The third is very self-explanatory, “No End Point” Henry Shaw’s past with the Botanical Garden that got “covered up” ultimately will have no end point ever. Many individuals will not see eye to eye as we do. We may think we have solved a certain problem, but a deeper dive will show that there is more to the problem than just the small part we solved. Another is that we may think we have solved the problem, but we should never give up, we should always want to try and have a better solution arise from more understanding. 

Another way Henry Shaw has one of the characteristics of a Wicked Problem is that some may think coming up with a solution is irreversible and will cause more problems. This can be true, however as long as you see it as the “No End Point” characteristic then you will be able to stop the spread of the non-understatement of the newly arised solution. Some may also see Henry Shaw’s past to be irreversible because they may not want to bring up the past and what actually took place at the Botanical Garden. 

Our problem is very unique because not many people know about the nasty past that Henry Shaw had to do with the Botanical Garden. Us being the younger generation trying to inform more mature individuals about this past brings the uniqueness because in my eyes the elders should be teaching the youngsters, however the roles are reversed in this situation. In the description it says that a solution will not work the same in every different place. This is very similar to our problem because a solution about a certain subject that has to do with Henry Shaw personally won’t work with a problem that is generalized about the plants in the Botanical Garden. 

The sixth and final reason is the most important. Henry Shaw’s problem is very urgent, we should strive to find many different solutions as quickly as possible. The quicker we can inform others about our wicked problem the more people may want to join. As though if we don’t find a solution it won’t harm anybody but that’s not what we as a class signed up to do. We chose that we want to branch out and help the community and that’s the intended purpose of our class. 

All in all, Henry Shaw and the past that is connected to the Botanical Garden is our wicked problem. The characteristics that are explained in the book all relate back to our problem in many different ways. I tried to explain it in the ways I understood the characteristics and how they will fit with our problem. 

MC #2

October 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

The website has a slavery page somewhat hidden on the website. When I went through the page just through the homepage, there was no blatant indication toward that Shaw owned slaves. Even in the “Our History” page, the topic is barely brought up, only taking up one paragraph out of the eight-paragraph page. From this page, there is small text at the top that will take you to a separate page about the history of slavery and the garden. When I first read the page, I completely missed it. I was trying to find the page that was linked, and it seemed like a scavenger hunt just for the page.  

First you have to go to the garden website. Then, the main page is just the garden and how people should pay and see it. I agree that people should see it, but it is just the overarching idea of the main page. Then, you must click on the about us page, and read about that. Then, there is the page about their history, and that is the step just before getting to the slavery page. 

 

This is the URL to get to the slavery page. Notice how many different sub-sections there are for it. There are four things you need to click through before getting to the actual page about slavery. I feel that these should be closer than just four clicks. Plus, on the website, there are a bunch of other things that are more of a priority than the slavery page. 

The page itself talks about the purchase of enslaved people made by Henry Shaw. It also includes many pictures of the slave records, the purchases, etc. Although this information is helpful, it just does not seem to provide enough information about this. They just mention the subject and just want to move forward with the garden, not focusing on the history of slavery associated with the garden. Because of this, the problem is not resolved, and the garden does not want to acknowledge the existence of slavery on the garden grounds. 

Many workers of the garden seem to know about the history of slavery on garden grounds, but they do nothing with the information. The work that we are doing now is a good step towards more involvement and more being done about the history of slavery and the garden. That just seems wrong to not really display it for everyone to see. When the garden has a past of slavery, I feel that it should be really shown, and not just put behind links on the website. Also, if it is put on a website, it should be a main part of the website.  

This just shows how small the other page is compared to the words on the screen for their history. 

Because of the website, it furthers my motivation to put something physical on garden grounds to contribute to the history of slavery in the gardens. More light should be shed on this topic, and it should be talked about more and not hidden. This also makes me think that the part about slavery should not have this be so far into the website, rather one of the main things that you see when you first go onto the website. 

The website gives useful information about the garden, but also, they just do not provide enough information about the slavery aspect of the garden. Sure, it was in the past, but that does not mean that it did not happen. The garden founder owned slaves, and that should be recognized right now. Henry Shaw was the garden’s founder, but he also had a past that people do not really want to acknowledge. Just because people do not want to acknowledge the past, that does not mean that it should be hidden forever. Because of how the website seemed to put it behind many different things to cover it up. This is why there needs to be some type of physical representation inside the garden. Although it may not be clear what to put in the garden yet, there are multiple ideas that can be implemented easily. 

The garden is such a beautiful place, and it should stay beautiful all the time. But if this problem is not brought to light, then the garden will have a sort of stain on it that will not go away without the proper processes. Something that I believe should be added is some type of information board inside the garden, inside the basement because it is being worked on right now. An idea I had was a statue of Esther and other slaves owned by Henry Shaw. Although this may be a costly idea, I believe that it will help people to visualize what they looked like. 

MC #1 – Hunter Cummins

October 5, 2023 / / 0 Comments
The first characteristic of a wicked problem is a vague problem definition. This connects with our problem because there are multiple stakeholders involved in this problem. Some stakeholders might be supportive of the decision to include something about Henry Shaw’s slaves while others might just want the garden to stay how it is. Some people may want more light to be shined on the past of what Shaw did. Others may like the garden how it is and as we discussed in class, the revenue that comes in from the garden as it is. When these things are changed, many other factors will change in the process.
The second characteristic of a wicked problem is that there may be an undefined solution. This basically states that there is no right way to go about solving the problem. Even though we may have a general idea of how to solve the problem, that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily the best way to go about it. There is to real right or wrong way to go about a problem, it’s just that the problem at hand has no real defined solution. This applies to the problem at hand because there is no right way to go about solving this problem, or there is no current right way to. We may be able to go about different solutions and apply them separately, but there is no right solution.
The third characteristic is that there is no end point. I think that this applies very well to our problem at hand. Even if we propose a solution and it gets implemented, constant revisions will need to be made and eventually more problems with the solution will arise. A problem with no end point means that problems will continue to arise over time even after the proposed solution is implemented. That’s why instead of “solving” the problem “resolutions” to the problem are instead used. Apparently, according to the book, the stopping point of resolving a problem is when the resources become scarce (Remington-Doucette 69). This means that the problem we have will have to be continually monitored, and when different problems arise, more effort will have to be put into just the one solution. Or, we will have to start brainstorming again to bring up solutions for the problem’s problem.
The fourth characteristic is that the solution may be irreversible. This basically means that we know nothing about what is going to come out of implementing a new solution. So testing beforehand doesn’t really work out because people do not know how the solution will turn out. I feel like this would apply to our problem because we really have no idea on how this will turn out with our solutions we are going to develop in the future. Sure we may know some sparse facts about what might happen when the solution is implemented, but we still do not know for sure what is going to happen in the long run.
The fifth characteristic is that the problem is unique. This means that one solution for one part of the problem will not be applicable to the rest of the problem. I feel that this is applicable to our problem because there are multiple parts to the story of Esther, and one solution to shining light on one part of her story compared to the rest is completely different from one another. Showing how Esther escaped Shaw is completely different than looking at her life as a slave.
The sixth and last characteristic is that the problem is urgent. This means that if the problem isn’t solved soon, there will be long lasting effects to “human and natural systems” (Remington-Doucette 69). I believe that our problem does not fall under this category.
If this problem isn’t recognized it will turn into an even bigger problem, but it does not seem that it will injure natural and human systems. I feel as if our research team should define this problem as a vague, undefined, no end point, irreversible, unique problem. The problem is vague because not much is known about it, and not much is known of what will happen if our solution is implemented at some point. Some stakeholders may want to back out of supporting the gardens, but at the same time some different stakeholders may start to support the gardens because of what we are doing. In essence, it is a gamble. The solution is undefined because there are multiple ways to approach the problem and think about possible solutions. There is no right answer, only the answer we provide. The problem seems to have no end point because even if our solution is implemented, some people may find it offensive, or hurtful to them, so we may need to change different aspects about the solution to appeal to almost everyone. The problem is irreversible because once it is implemented, our solution stays there for a while at the least. Which means many people are going to be able to see it and make their decisions about the gardens before we can really do anything about our decision. Finally the problem is unique because defining one part of the problem doesn’t necessarily mean that all parts of the problem are solved. This just means that that particular part is solved, not the whole problem as a whole.

MC #1 Missouri Botanical Gardens

October 5, 2023 / / 0 Comments

We are working with the Missouri Botanical Garden to figure out the context of Henry Shaw and how the wicked problems discussed in the early chapter of our reading show up in the events that have taken place. These wicked problems are not just your normal problem that can be easily resolved in one solution. Instead these wicked problems dig deep into understanding the timeline and history of Henry Shaw and the relationship that is connected with the Missouri Botanical Garden. The first characteristic of a wicked problem is a vague problem definition. This means that there are multiple stakeholders involved, such as the people who work at the garden, the community that lives around the garden, potential local officials that are in higher power over certain communities, and others. These are all major factors that go into consideration where everyone might not agree that the research, knowledge and the history of Henry Shaw and the garden people might not want to hear.

More people of color would like for this topic to be revealed and spoken on because this is something that is a part of the history of African Americans and the US. If certain people do not want to listen to the truth that Henry Shaw was indeed an enslaver and there is evidence in documents that proved he was in favor of slavery. A question that I asked myself is how can you free an enslaved person but then send bounty hunters after them to return them to where they belong. Knowing the gardens beauty now in the 21st century to ever think that such wicked and cruel actions took place there most people would never know the truth.

Another characteristic that is talked about is No Endpoint/ Undefined solution. I paired these together in a way because they somewhat intertwine with one another and especially in the context with the Garden. With the garden one way is to engage with the public about the history of the MBG, we could also work with the space that is currently being worked on in the basement as a starting point to showcase the unsung history with Henry and the garden. By definition unsung is not being noticed or praised but in the context of this situation there are many things that need to be brought to light and given recognition so people can wake up and understand that the garden is not just this beautiful colorful place but in fact where you could have been standing was where slaves once stood before. We may in fact come up with those solutions but one size does not fit all. We could potentially use the basement and turn that into a history museum timeline of events. That could be a possible solution and could work but in the long run months later the Garden could start losing money because some people might not agree or like what we did on our part to reveal the true past. Another characteristic is Irreversible and this is important because given the situation and context once we as a team implement ideas we will either come to more problems or more possible solutions. Once we are working with the gardens and start telling our story, there is no going back to not doing anything at all. The people will either love or hate what changes we made and if so then we have to continue to make impactful changes. Second to last wicked problem is Unique. If  a solution works for one problem in one area it might not work in other spots. This brings me back to that undefined solution: you can’t come up with one possible outcome and expect it to work and solve everything because it won’t.

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