Visualizing Ancient Data - Planetariums as Time Machines
James Hedberg, CCNY
Friday, March 1, 2024 12–1 pm
Hegeman 107 Planetariums have long been referred to as virtual spaceships, capable of whisking their passengers to far off stars or distant galaxies. Through a carefully crafted union of scientific data visualization and cinematic techniques, we can watch the sun set on Mars or eat lunch at the center of the Milky Way. Another use of these immersive theaters is to serve as virtual time machines, enabling scientifically accurate visualizations of night skies and other astronomical objects as they were observed and recorded centuries, even millennia ago. This talk will explore immersive experiences we've created that port ancient data sets to a decidedly modern venue. Sponsored by: Physics Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
The Eyes Have It!: Face and Gaze Perception As a Window Into Mental Representations
Thomas Hutcheon, Psychology Program
Thursday, March 7, 2024 4–5:30 pm
Preston Theater From the very earliest stages of development, humans prioritize information about the faces of others. Faces carry important information about the identity, thoughts, emotions, and future behavior of an individual. In addition to static features of a face, the direction of a face’s gaze provides information about a person’s attention and intention. Accumulating evidence suggests that gaze-following is not simply a bottom-up (reflexive) process, but is modulated by top-down factors including social characteristics of both the face stimulus and the observer. This talk will review recent work conducted in the Bard Attention and Performance (BAP) which has sought to better understand how and why these top-down factors impact behavior. Sponsored by: Psychology Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Hegeman 204A Plato reserved high esteem for mathematics, even saying in the Laws that learning mathematics was a necessity, that without the use or knowledge of mathematics, ‘a man cannot become a God to the world, nor a spirit, nor yet a hero, nor able earnestly to think and care for man.’ Bertrand Russell remarks on this passage in The Study of Mathematics, “Such was Plato’s judgment of mathematics; but the mathematicians do not read Plato, while those who read him know no mathematics, and regard his opinion upon this question as merely a curious aberration,” (Russell 1963, p. 85).
Reflecting on Bertrand Russell’s ruminations about Plato, it is well known, though we no longer have direct evidence, that before the entrance to Plato’s Academy was the inscription, “no one should enter here unless he is a geometer.” Sprinkled throughout Plato’s dialogues are geometry problems (Meno), statements about the Odd and the Even (Phaedo, Euthyphro, Parmenides), and of course, that well known claim in his Republic VII, 526g-527c that while there are two kinds of numbers, those used in practical endeavors like star gazing and military soldier formation on the one hand, and those that can only be grasped in the mind on the other, that even those who are slow at calculation or reasoning, if they are educated in it, even if they gain nothing else, improve and generally become sharper in thinking than they were. So if mathematics, and especially the study of geometry, improves the quality of the soul and makes it easier to see the form of the Good (526e-527b6-8), then could Plato’s treatment of mathematics in his dialogues tell us something about his theory of forms?
In this talk, I’ll lay out some of the problems of understanding Plato’s theory of forms and why we have yet to solve these problems. While Plato saw the form-sensible relation as essentially a non-expressible mathematical relation, contemporary scholars commonly think of the form-sensible relation in terms of sets and its members. My own view is that we are unable to solve the problems of understanding Plato’s theory of forms because of our own advances in mathematics.Sponsored by: Classical Studies Program; Mathematics Program; Philosophy Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
My Science Spectrum: Creating an Eclectic Academic Career and Broadening Inclusivity
Emily Rice, CUNY
Friday, March 15, 2024 1–1 pm
Hegeman 107 The landscape of academic science has changed significantly in recent decades and is poised to change even more in the future. We can leverage these cultural changes to create an environment that is both inclusive to more people and more effective in preparing students (science majors and non-majors alike) for a wider variety of careers and more broadly defined success. I’ll share my own path to science and a variety of science projects I have been involved in along the way to becoming tenured faculty at the City University of New York, including: planetarium shows, parody music videos, media appearances, an concept-oriented lab manual, Astronomy on Tap public outreach events, STARtorialist science fashion blog and shop, the AstroCom NYC research mentorship program, and last but certainly not least, the BDNYC brown dwarf research group. The implicit mission that connects these eclectic projects is to expand support for, participation in, and even the definition of science. Sponsored by: Physics Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium The field of STEM offers many personal and professional rewards. However, emotions may stand in the way of such rewards. In this workshop, we will explore imposter syndrome and other socioemotional phenomena which may affect one’s ability to engage with and succeed in a field as competitive and demanding as those in STEM. Participants will have an opportunity to explore and reflect on their feelings towards studying STEM. Participants begin by reflecting on and sharing their previous learning experiences to place these experiences in context, learning that: (1) they are not alone; (2) their experiences are likely not tied to them as an individual, but are a result of sociohistorical forces. This allows students to think deeply and critically about how they approach their studies. Participants then reorient themselves based on these new realizations and their motivation to succeed. This reorientation includes strategies and tips for studying, focusing on learning mathematics in particular. Finally the workshop gives participants an opportunity to work on a mathematical problem, setting the stage for a positive opportunity to engage with mathematics and their other studies. All participants are encouraged to participate in small-group and whole session discussions throughout the program, reducing the “I’m alone” stigma and forming bonds with others in the group. They are also encouraged to continue working and studying together after the workshop is completed.
Dr. Geillan Aly, the Founder of Compassionate Math, is a math educator who centers the socioemotional factors that contribute to success in mathematics. She holds the fundamental assumption that learning math is both an emotional and cognitive endeavor. A former award-winning Assistant Professor who has taught for over fifteen years, Dr. Aly transforms math classrooms through engaging professional development and student-focused workshops that center emotions while establishing a culture of engaging with rigorous mathematics. She received her PhD in Teaching and Teacher Education and Master’s in Mathematics from the University of Arizona. Underlying Dr. Aly’s work is a dedication to equity and social justice. She enjoys traveling and seeing live music and is an avid chef, wife, and mother to a beautiful boy.Sponsored by: Dean of the College; Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing; Office of Equity and Inclusion.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
From Turbulence to Climate: Pathways and Ecology of Upper Ocean Nutrient Flux
Mara Freilich, Brown University
Friday, March 29, 2024 12–1 pm
Hegeman 107 Ocean currents shape the distribution and magnitude of ocean carbon and nutrient fluxes with cascading influences on the global carbon cycle. In this talk, I will use ship-board observations and numerical models to examine the interaction between ocean eddy processes and microbial communities revealing how ocean currents impact microbial diversity and the global importance of eddies in the distribution of ocean carbon. The talk will conclude with a discussion of community science work that addresses the impact of high nutrient loads on shoreline communities. Sponsored by: Physics Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Visualizing Ancient Data - Planetariums as Time Machines
James Hedberg, CCNY
Friday, March 1, 2024 12–1 pm
Hegeman 107 Planetariums have long been referred to as virtual spaceships, capable of whisking their passengers to far off stars or distant galaxies. Through a carefully crafted union of scientific data visualization and cinematic techniques, we can watch the sun set on Mars or eat lunch at the center of the Milky Way. Another use of these immersive theaters is to serve as virtual time machines, enabling scientifically accurate visualizations of night skies and other astronomical objects as they were observed and recorded centuries, even millennia ago. This talk will explore immersive experiences we've created that port ancient data sets to a decidedly modern venue. Sponsored by: Physics Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
The Eyes Have It!: Face and Gaze Perception As a Window Into Mental Representations
Thomas Hutcheon, Psychology Program
Thursday, March 7, 2024 4–5:30 pm
Preston Theater From the very earliest stages of development, humans prioritize information about the faces of others. Faces carry important information about the identity, thoughts, emotions, and future behavior of an individual. In addition to static features of a face, the direction of a face’s gaze provides information about a person’s attention and intention. Accumulating evidence suggests that gaze-following is not simply a bottom-up (reflexive) process, but is modulated by top-down factors including social characteristics of both the face stimulus and the observer. This talk will review recent work conducted in the Bard Attention and Performance (BAP) which has sought to better understand how and why these top-down factors impact behavior. Sponsored by: Psychology Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Hegeman 204A Plato reserved high esteem for mathematics, even saying in the Laws that learning mathematics was a necessity, that without the use or knowledge of mathematics, ‘a man cannot become a God to the world, nor a spirit, nor yet a hero, nor able earnestly to think and care for man.’ Bertrand Russell remarks on this passage in The Study of Mathematics, “Such was Plato’s judgment of mathematics; but the mathematicians do not read Plato, while those who read him know no mathematics, and regard his opinion upon this question as merely a curious aberration,” (Russell 1963, p. 85).
Reflecting on Bertrand Russell’s ruminations about Plato, it is well known, though we no longer have direct evidence, that before the entrance to Plato’s Academy was the inscription, “no one should enter here unless he is a geometer.” Sprinkled throughout Plato’s dialogues are geometry problems (Meno), statements about the Odd and the Even (Phaedo, Euthyphro, Parmenides), and of course, that well known claim in his Republic VII, 526g-527c that while there are two kinds of numbers, those used in practical endeavors like star gazing and military soldier formation on the one hand, and those that can only be grasped in the mind on the other, that even those who are slow at calculation or reasoning, if they are educated in it, even if they gain nothing else, improve and generally become sharper in thinking than they were. So if mathematics, and especially the study of geometry, improves the quality of the soul and makes it easier to see the form of the Good (526e-527b6-8), then could Plato’s treatment of mathematics in his dialogues tell us something about his theory of forms?
In this talk, I’ll lay out some of the problems of understanding Plato’s theory of forms and why we have yet to solve these problems. While Plato saw the form-sensible relation as essentially a non-expressible mathematical relation, contemporary scholars commonly think of the form-sensible relation in terms of sets and its members. My own view is that we are unable to solve the problems of understanding Plato’s theory of forms because of our own advances in mathematics.Sponsored by: Classical Studies Program; Mathematics Program; Philosophy Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
My Science Spectrum: Creating an Eclectic Academic Career and Broadening Inclusivity
Emily Rice, CUNY
Friday, March 15, 2024 1–1 pm
Hegeman 107 The landscape of academic science has changed significantly in recent decades and is poised to change even more in the future. We can leverage these cultural changes to create an environment that is both inclusive to more people and more effective in preparing students (science majors and non-majors alike) for a wider variety of careers and more broadly defined success. I’ll share my own path to science and a variety of science projects I have been involved in along the way to becoming tenured faculty at the City University of New York, including: planetarium shows, parody music videos, media appearances, an concept-oriented lab manual, Astronomy on Tap public outreach events, STARtorialist science fashion blog and shop, the AstroCom NYC research mentorship program, and last but certainly not least, the BDNYC brown dwarf research group. The implicit mission that connects these eclectic projects is to expand support for, participation in, and even the definition of science. Sponsored by: Physics Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium The field of STEM offers many personal and professional rewards. However, emotions may stand in the way of such rewards. In this workshop, we will explore imposter syndrome and other socioemotional phenomena which may affect one’s ability to engage with and succeed in a field as competitive and demanding as those in STEM. Participants will have an opportunity to explore and reflect on their feelings towards studying STEM. Participants begin by reflecting on and sharing their previous learning experiences to place these experiences in context, learning that: (1) they are not alone; (2) their experiences are likely not tied to them as an individual, but are a result of sociohistorical forces. This allows students to think deeply and critically about how they approach their studies. Participants then reorient themselves based on these new realizations and their motivation to succeed. This reorientation includes strategies and tips for studying, focusing on learning mathematics in particular. Finally the workshop gives participants an opportunity to work on a mathematical problem, setting the stage for a positive opportunity to engage with mathematics and their other studies. All participants are encouraged to participate in small-group and whole session discussions throughout the program, reducing the “I’m alone” stigma and forming bonds with others in the group. They are also encouraged to continue working and studying together after the workshop is completed.
Dr. Geillan Aly, the Founder of Compassionate Math, is a math educator who centers the socioemotional factors that contribute to success in mathematics. She holds the fundamental assumption that learning math is both an emotional and cognitive endeavor. A former award-winning Assistant Professor who has taught for over fifteen years, Dr. Aly transforms math classrooms through engaging professional development and student-focused workshops that center emotions while establishing a culture of engaging with rigorous mathematics. She received her PhD in Teaching and Teacher Education and Master’s in Mathematics from the University of Arizona. Underlying Dr. Aly’s work is a dedication to equity and social justice. She enjoys traveling and seeing live music and is an avid chef, wife, and mother to a beautiful boy.Sponsored by: Dean of the College; Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing; Office of Equity and Inclusion.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
From Turbulence to Climate: Pathways and Ecology of Upper Ocean Nutrient Flux
Mara Freilich, Brown University
Friday, March 29, 2024 12–1 pm
Hegeman 107 Ocean currents shape the distribution and magnitude of ocean carbon and nutrient fluxes with cascading influences on the global carbon cycle. In this talk, I will use ship-board observations and numerical models to examine the interaction between ocean eddy processes and microbial communities revealing how ocean currents impact microbial diversity and the global importance of eddies in the distribution of ocean carbon. The talk will conclude with a discussion of community science work that addresses the impact of high nutrient loads on shoreline communities. Sponsored by: Physics Program.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].