January 29, 2014, by Warren Pearce
Dan Kahan public lecture 13/2/14: Democracy and the Science Communication Environment
UPDATE: over 100 people attended the event at Lakeside Arts Centre. Dan has posted a detailed synopsis with link to slides.
We are delighted to announce that Dan Kahan (Professor of Law and Psychology, Yale Law School) is visiting the university to deliver a public lecture on February 13th.
This is a rare opportunity to hear one of the leading scholars in ‘the science of science communication’, a topic of great relevance to the university’s growing interest in public engagement with science and technology issues.
Précis:
The science communication environment comprises the sum total of the everyday cues and processes that enable individuals to reliably orient themselves with respect to decision-relevant science—a body of knowledge the vastness of which exceeds the capacity of any individual to comprehend much less verify. The quality of the science communication environment is as critical to enlightened self-government as the quality of the natural environment is to the physical health of a society’s members. Understanding how the science communication environment operates and structuring procedures to protect it from contamination is the most critical aim of the science of science communication.
Dan Kahan is the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School. He is a member of the Cultural Cognition Project, an interdisciplinary team of scholars who use empirical methods to examine the impact of group values on perceptions of risk and science communication. In addition to his internationally renowned academic work on communication of risk issues associated with climate change, synthetic biology, infectious diseases, nanotechnologies and geoengineering, Dan is also one of the most accomplished science communicators and lecturers in the US today.
All are welcome to attend A30 lecture theatre, Lakeside Arts Centre, University Park: Thursday February 13, 6pm. The event will be followed by drinks. Please RSVP to cornelia.lawson@nottingham.ac.uk
The event is presented by the Science & Technology Research Priority Group and the Institute for Science and Society.
I’ve booked my ticket. From what I’ve seen in snippets on the web, he’s an energetic, entertaining and thought-provoking speaker.
[…] This is a rare opportunity to hear one of the leading scholars in 'the science of science communication', a topic of great relevance to the university's growing interest in public engagement with science and technology issues. […]