Conclusion: Biogeography as a Teaching Tool

Abstract

The conclusion examines how teachers can use the methodology of biogeography—that is, teachers can guide students by having them name a previously unnamed animal from early modern Spain. For instance, students can name a quetzal whose feathers were used by an Amanteca artisan to craft a shield that Philip II received as a gift and put in his collection in the Royal Armory. The teaching methodology of biogeography— creating names of animals in spectacles of animals in early modern Spain—helps prepare students in the humanities to look beyond the superficial interpretation of images and texts to better understand landscapes of exclusion.