USP Annual Spring Symposium “Fundamentals” Sat. Feb. 28, 9am-4pm @ The Edge/Bostock
On Saturday, February 28th, from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm in The Edge in the newly renovated Bostock Research Commons, the University Scholars hosted our annual spring symposium.
Each year, members of the University Scholars Program plan, organize, and participate in a symposium of their own design. This year we chose the theme “Fundamentals” to highlight the many challenges facing our respective disciplines as well as the dilemmas that occur when participating in interdisciplinary collaboration.
The symposium commenced with a keynote address from Professor Ronen Plesser of Duke’s Department of Physics. His work is on astronomy and cosmology as well as innovations in teaching, such as the development of MOOCs.
Professor Plesser’s address was followed by presentations from several members of the University Scholars Program. For the full schedule, click here.
Dr. Ronen Plesser is an associate professor of physics and mathematics at Duke University. His research interests center on the interplay of geometry and physics in the context of string theory and particle physics. Dr. Plesser received his B.Sc. from Tel Aviv University in 1981 and served in the Israeli Defense Forces from 1981 until 1986. He received his PhD in physics from Harvard University in 1991. He held positions at Yale University, the Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Weizmann Institute of Science before joining the Duke faculty in 1997. He has taught Introduction to Astronomy at Duke since 2002 and has recently begun teaching the course as a MOOC through Coursera. He has been lauded for his teaching style – thorough, engaging, and challenging. We are delighted to have him share his research with our community in a talk titled: “Fundamental or Fundamentalist: Particles, Strings, and the Search for an Ultimate Theory.”
Over the past few decades, Duke University has become renowned for its emphasis on interdisciplinary studies. The University Scholars Program explores interdisciplinary perspectives on research and knowledge production through regular seminars and an annual symposium. This year, the USP has chosen the topic of “Fundamentals” as the operating theme of our symposium to go “back to the basics” of intellectual inquiry. Without the fundamentals, it is impossible to do truly interdisciplinary work. And so, we are interested in the ways in which the academy, governments, institutions, and individuals deploy the processes of definition, discovery, dialogue, and dissemination of the “fundamentals” of the disciplines. What is the role of definitions in our disciplines? What methods and frameworks guide our discovery? How does dialogue allow for consensus in an (inter)disciplinary community? How do we disseminate our definitions, discoveries, and dialogues from the expert audience to the broader lay population? The University Scholars will explore these questions and more and invite the public to join the conversation.
The members of the University Scholars Program have worked hard to assemble a multifaceted and provocative program, which addresses topics of urgency and relevance for our physical environment, our pursuit of knowledge, and our institutions. We believe this symposium has importance for academic scholars and members of the broader community.
