Welcome to The STEM Sessions Podcast. I am your host, Cody Colborn
It’s been a busy few months for me
- Ongoing personal event required my attention
- Several pre-scheduled commitments I couldn’t ignore, or at least I would have felt really really bad if I skipped them
Judged in three science fairs during March, April, and May
- Each taking 12-20 hours
And in June, I volunteered at a fair of another type, this one spelled with an e at the end – a Renaissance faire
Earlier in the year, I joined the Guild of Science and Arts at the Koroneburg Ren Fest
- Truthfully do not know what spurred me to join
- I enjoy attending ren faires, shopping, taking in the shows, and people watching – and attempting to plant the seeds of rebellion against which ever monarch controls the town
- I don’t LARP, I don’t perform historical re-enactments, I don’t particularly like dressing in period clothing
But something about this guild captured my interest
- Sharing science and technology of the Renaissance period just seemed fun
- And it would be a new experience for me, so I wanted to try it
I had a great time, and I want to share some of the highlights now
This is The STEM Sessions Podcast episode 28 – Science in Koroneburg
In the “real world” of 2024, Koroneburg is a village of permanent structures located in a park surrounding the Santa Ana River in Riverside County
- There are stages, a jousting arena, restaurants, and shops
- Site is used for other events throughout the year such as Halloween, weddings, parties
- While structures are in various states of disrepair, it’s the only permanent Ren faire village in California
In kayfabe, Koroneburg sits along the Rhine River in late 16th Century Germany
- The leader of Koroneburg is Baron Heinrich von Lauffer
- He was made Baron by the emperor in recognition of making the best beer in the land.
- Every June, the Baron hosts a grand festival and invites dignitaries, regular folk, and guilds from across Europe and the world to join in the celebration
One of those guilds is my guild, the Guild of Science and Arts
- While attending the festival, we stay at the Inn of St Ambrose
- Throughout the day, visitors can join us on porch for refreshments or in the garden for games of the period
- While there can learn from poets, writers, musicians, inventors, mathematicians, and natural philosophers (aka scientists)
- And witness demonstrations of our mighty trebuchet
Setting kayfabe aside, mission of guild of science and arts is to teach visitors about the science and arts of the Renaissance period
- How guild members go about that is really up to the individual as I discovered
Some members assume the role of a famous name from the period such as Thomas Paine or Leonardo da Vinci or Galileo or Thomas Paine exiled from England and in hiding as the Peasant Poet
- Others invent their own characters, much like one would for a roll playing game
I developed a character of a traveling scientist who works with the famous names but is not one himself
- That gave me the flexibility to talk about any topic I wanted
- My character gives mini-lectures in all the villages he visits, sharing his knowledge freely
- I wrote an entire character sheet, but that’s the elevator pitch
Then I had to work out my costume
- Normally, I attend ren faires as a viking
- I get to show off my tattoos, braid and bead my hair, and walk around greeting people in the few Old Norse words I’ve managed to memorize
But the viking culture is not really known for their scholars, and are about five or six centuries too early for the scientific revolution of the Renaissance
- So not really knowing what do to, I opted for a more generic adventurer costume of boots, pants, leg wraps, vest, and tudor style hat
- Emphasizing features like pouches, belts, and satchels for carrying documents and notebooks and scientific instruments
- Luckily for me, one of the weekend themes was Viking and Celtic, so I was able to dress in full viking mode for two days
- My non-viking costume,wasn’t perfect, and it certainly wasn’t anything special, but it got the job done
Remember, I had no idea what I was doing
- I was winging the costume, and I was winging how I would interact with visitors
I prepared lectures on three topics
- Invention and development of the pencil
- Origin of the scientific method
- Physics of the trebuchet
To get kids more interested, I offered a prize at the end – a small notebook and a ballpoint feather pen
- Notebook was branded as an official guild field journal so they could record all of their scientific observations and artistic ideas during their visit to Koroneburg
I don’t recall exactly what I was expecting, at least not in terms I can relay without a lot of handwaving and rambling
- But I’m certain the vast marjority of those predictions were incorrect
Our courtyard had tables and chairs with numerous Renaissance era games set up which lured people in
- That and our copious amounts of shade which was our most valuable asset
- I’d explain the rules of the game they wanted to try, and as they were leaving, I’d hit them with my pitch
As we are the Guild of science and arts, would you like to listen to a quick science lecture before you leave our shade and continue your journey?
- I was never not taken up on the offer
I then let them pick the topic
- Each was selected at least a few times
- But the most popular was the pencil lecture
- Perhaps it seemed the most fun or the least intimidating
- That’s something I need to work on for next year
Lectures were fully scripted and placed in a leather bound notebook
- Intended to give the appearance that I had collected this knowledge on my travels
- And was referring to my notes as I spoke
Quickly realized the script only worked for adults
- Teenagers and kids didn’t respond
- So I changed it up depending on the audience
- Every time I gave a lecture, it was different
- But by the final weekend, I think I had it dialed in
Adults can be entertained by a well written lecture, breaking in with questions when appropriate
- Teenagers, and certainly young kids, have a shorter attention span – something I should have anticipated from the beginning – and require more engagement
- Shorter attention span also means I needed to get to the point more quickly, so less color, less historical build up
I also discovered that really young kids, younger than eight or nine, respond very positively to show and tell, and other tangible demonstrations
- For that matter, all ages responded well to that
- I also noted a lot more engagement when kneeled next to them so our heights were more closely matched
- In fact, judging by smiles on their parents faces and the number of I was recorded on their phones in those situations, I think the parent really appreciated someone talking with their kids in that manner
So outside of interacting with our visitors, here are some random highlights of my month at the Koroneburg Ren Fest
One, experiencing the entirety of early summer, southern California weather in a single day
- Most people assume southern California in the summer is always sunshine with temperatures contstantly in the 70s and 80s
- They don’t realize how quickly the temperature drops when the sun goes down and the ocean breeze rolls in
- You see this at Disneyland all of the time
- Out of town visitors walking around the park wrapped up in towels from their hotel because they forgot to pack a jacket on their summer vacation to southern california
- For several days at Koroneburg, we started with the cool temperatures of June Gloom – our affectionate name for the marine layer (also called Graypril, May Gray, No-sky July, or Fogust depending on the month)
- Clouds burned off around 1P, and the temperature shot into the 80s
- Around 4 or 5P, sun was low enough in the sky to allow the marine layer to return along with the ocean breeze, leaving everyone chilled
Second highlight was handing a feather pen to this five year old boy, and seeing the giddy devilishness on his face as he whispered to me, “I’m going to tickle everyone with this”
Highlight no. three was running into a couple of my current favorite content creators
Joseph R. Hanson who plays The Colonel in Fast Food House, and Michael MacRae who plays Jack in the Box
- These guys were just chillin out of character, but I had to thank them for all of the entertainment
- I strive to be like the Colonel when I become an old man, but Jack will always be my spirit animal
Highlight the fourth was watching the birds of prey and their handlers from Falcon’s Court on their walk to the stage
- At just the moment, a light headwind kicked up and the hawks spread their wings as if they were flying
- It was just an awesome brief moment in time to witness
While I didn’t attend any of the participant after parties, or camp onsite, I had a blast
- It scratched that itch to teach and perform creatively, without the obligation of being a full-time teacher or touring artist
- I’m already working on improvements for next year, I’m that excited about it
And, hopefully, there is a next year
- 2024 was the last year of Koroneburg’s lease
- Negotiations on a new lease are on-going in good faith, with rumors and predictions trending neither positively nor negatively
- However, I’m definitely hoping for the best
Thank you for listening to this episode of The STEM Sessions Podcast; researched, written, and produced by Cody Colborn. Shownotes can be found at thestemsessions.com. Feedback and corrections are always welcome.
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Please remember, STEM belongs to everyone. We should not allow it to be siloed or gate-kept by experts, policy makers, or talking heads. Bias is found in every message, so always verify what you read and what you’re told.
Until the next episode, stay curious.