College of Science Lecture Series Explores the Edges of Life
On Jan. 23, The University of Arizona College of Science kicks off its Edges of Life Lecture Series – a series of six lectures bringing together perspectives that include biology, medicine, technology and philosophy.
Today, perspectives are changing on a wide range of issues including the origins of life, how life differentiates itself from its surroundings and the discoveries regarding life that will emerge in the near future. The series will feature prominent researchers that will discuss how science and technology might address issues central to the concept of life.
The first lecture is Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. The lectures, which are free and open to the public, will be held in Centennial Hall on the UA campus in Tucson. Parking is available in the Tyndall Avenue Garage, 880 E. 4th St. The garage can be entered from either Tyndall Avenue or Euclid Avenue.
"After the success of our two previous lecture series, I thought a topic that might interest our community is how we see life, as science and technological advances have forced us to expand our views of life,” College of Science Dean Joaquin Ruiz said. “We study life at its extremes and what we have learned is very interesting.”
As in previous years, a corresponding teacher education program focuses on teaching high school and middle school science. Teachers receive a scholarship to cover the cost of the class. The K-12 educator program is funded by Research Corporation and the Gear Up Project.
The teacher education program is structured as a two-unit graduate course with discussion, lecture and activities on the teaching of life sciences in a high school classroom.
Teacher-participants meet once a week for three hours in the evening. In the first hour the class participates in an activity for teaching science in a high school science classroom or a presentation on a K-12 outreach opportunity at the UA. In the second hour the class attends the The Edges of Life lecture. The third hour consists of discussion of the lecture and its application to the high school classroom.
Now in its third year, the tremendously popular lectures have been presented in front of capacity crowds. Previous topics included evolution and global climate change. The UA is now partnering with the Arizona Science Center to present the global climate change lecture series to downtown Phoenix.
”I am proud to live in our community and it is clear that Tucson is populated by many individuals that are scholars and are interested in learning new things,” Ruiz said. “We will do our best to continue offering our community the best lectures we can on topics that are of general interest.”
The schedule of speakers (lectures begin at 7 p.m.):
Life's Defining Edge: The Origins of Life
Roy Parker, Regents' Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Wednesday, January 23
Life's Extreme Edge: The Limits of Organic Life on Earth and Other Planets
Jonathan Lunine, Professor, Planetary Sciences and Physics
Wednesday, January 30
Life's Final Edge: The Origin and Extinction of Species in a Human-Dominated Earth
Michael Rosenzweig, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Wednesday, February 6
Life's Cognitive Edge: The Role of the Mind and What it Means to be Human
Anna Dornhaus, Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Wednesday, February 13
Life's Human Edge: Changing Perspectives on the End of Life
Michael Gill, Associate Professor, Philosophy
Wednesday, February 20
Life's Technological Edge: The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
Ray Kurzweil, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kurzweil Technologies
Wednesday, March 5
et cetera
- Extra Info | Edges of Life Lecture Series
Delicious
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
Google
MySpace
Propeller
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo