Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release
Oct. 29,  1999                    

From Mammal to Mega-Star:  Lawrence University Lecture Examines Cultural
and Environmental Influences of Dolphins


     APPLETON, WIS. -- If you think "Flipper" was just a TV show about a
boy and his dolphin, think again says a University of Oklahoma
professor.  Try cultural icon for conservation and environmental
politics.
     Gregg Mitman, visiting scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the
History of Science in Berlin, Germany, and professor of the history of
science at the University of Oklahoma, discusses the political influence
and marketing of the dolphin in a visit to Lawrence University.  Mitman
presents, "Sex, Science and Environmental Policy: The Making of a
Hollywood Pet Star," Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wriston Art
Center Auditorium.  The event is free and open to the public.
     In his address, Mitman will examine how the dolphin -- frolicking,
highly intelligent and communicative creatures with a complex social
life -- grew to the status of "glamour species" in American culture,
including its critical role in the financial success of 1950s-launched
tourist attractions such as Florida's Marineland, home of the world's
first trained dolphin "Flippy," a predecessor to television's popular
"Flipper" by 10 years. 
     The lecture also will explore how the use of Hollywood star-like
marketing turned the dolphin into an influential symbol for conservation
and environmental politics regarding all marine mammals in the United
States. 
     Mitman, who earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, is the
author of the book, "Reel Nature:  America's Romance with Wildlife on
Film," scheduled for release later this year by Harvard University
Press.