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Middle Ground

  • About the Exhibition
  • Play
    • Who Do You Think I Am?
    • Unseen Stories
    • My-Side Bias
    • Puzzling Public Behaviors
    • Making it in America
    • Don't Push This Button
    • Stand By or Step Up?
    • The Power of a (Bogus) Uniform
    • Share a Joke
  • Ponder
    • Thinking About People
    • The Effect of Others
    • Being Sociable
 

Learn with us online while the Exploratorium is temporarily closed. You can help us reopen—donate today.

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FREE OFFSITE EXHIBITION

Middle Ground

Reconsidering ourselves and others

This exhibition is temporarily closed due to COVID-19.

Larkin Street Entrance of the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94102


From August 2019 through June 2020, the Exploratorium invites you to pull up a chair and dive into Middle Ground, an exploration into human social interactions in the middle of San Francisco’s vibrant Civic Center.

Whether you’re a denizen of the densest urban metropolis or the smallest small town, no person is an island. What goes into the stories we tell ourselves about other people—whether they’re on the streets we share, in our memories and our newsfeeds, or on the other side of the world?

Social scientists have studied how we think, feel, and behave in relation to other people for decades. Their investigations have shed light on bias and stereotyping, humor and generosity, how we work together, and how we pull apart into tribes.

To learn more, join us at this exciting, free outdoor exhibition on the Larkin Street steps of the San Francisco Main Library—or, if you’re visiting this site from afar, pull up a chair and explore fresh interactive digital content about how we think, feel, and behave toward other people.

Middle Ground is made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

 

Middle Ground: Reconsidering Ourselves and Others
Finding Middle Ground

 

New Exhibits

Middle Ground, which was developed by the Exploratorium and funded by the National Science Foundation, is part of San Francisco's Civic Center Initiative, a multiyear effort to create a lively and welcoming heart of the city. We hope it's a place where people can drop their guard for a bit, enjoy the presence of others, and learn something new.

 Pulling Together
Pulling Together

Working together, do you pull your weight?

Unseen Stories
Unseen Stories

There's what people see—and then there's the unseen story.

Sharing Faces
Sharing Faces

See yourself in the faces of others.

New Digital Content

This website grew out of Middle Ground, a free, yearlong offsite exhibition developed and built by the Exploratorium and installed at San Francisco’s Main Library. The essays and interactive digital experiences you’ll find here aim to get you thinking about how you think—and how you interact with others as you go about your daily life.

Middle Ground Play section
Play

Pull up a chair and play a bit! Explore interactive digital content about how we think, feel, and behave in relation to other people.

INTERACTIVES

Middle Ground Ponder section
Ponder

For decades, scientists have studied and learned much about social interactions. Delve into these essays to discover some of what shapes our social lives.

ESSAYS

Upcoming Events

San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco Public Library

Explore the events calendar of this amazing local resource and Middle Ground project partner.

San Francisco Civic Center Commons
San Francisco Civic Center Commons

In San Francisco’s central civic spaces you’ll find art, events, places to eat and people to meet.

Exploratorium
Exploratorium

Check out our cinema arts, evening, member, and other upcoming and ongoing events. 

More to Explore

In our 50th year, the Exploratorium is dedicated to creating experiences that explore the intersecting personal, social, and biological dimensions that make up how we see ourselves and others.

Cells to Self
Cells to Self

Exploring how human cells move, communicate, and respond to their environment.

After Dark Online

From our home to yours, digital dispatches from After Dark.

50 Years 1969-2019
Prototype the Future with Us

In 2019 the Exploratorium celebrated 50 years of innovation.

#MiddleGroundSF

 

 


Middle Ground was created by the Exploratorium, in partnership with:

Ground Play
SF Planning
San Francisco Public Library
Simons Foundation Science Sandbox
Urban Alchemy
Community Housing Partnership
 

Thanks also to the many individuals from this community who contributed their time, energy, and thoughtfulness to the project.


National Science Foundation
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1713638. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

 

LOCATION

Map of Middle Ground

100 Larkin St
San Francisco, CA 94102

  • About the Exhibition
  • Play
    • Who Do You Think I Am?
    • Unseen Stories
    • My-Side Bias
    • Puzzling Public Behaviors
    • Making it in America
    • Don't Push This Button
    • Stand By or Step Up?
    • The Power of a (Bogus) Uniform
    • Share a Joke
  • Ponder
    • Thinking About People
    • The Effect of Others
    • Being Sociable
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