Invisibility: The Power of an Idea - Research and Discovery | The New School

This conference has been funded by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (sloan.org/). Visit the Center for Public Scholarship (centerforpublic...) for more information.
There is nothing more magical than the lure and power of invisibility, and no stronger weapon. It challenges our scientific imagination to new ways of revealing and concealing-penetrating the unseen mysteries of black holes and gravitational waves, cloaking what we wish to hide from our adversaries. It infuses our literature and drives the mythical and religious underpinnings of culture. And by stripping populations of their place in society-the invisible “other” in the form of African Americans, women in Saudi Arabia, the homeless, veterans-it spurs us to action, to create change for the better. Join us as we investigate the concept of invisibility and interrogate what’s seen, what’s unseen, what’s unseeable, and what we do in response.
The New School | newschool.edu
With Simon Critchley, Wendy Doniger, Gerald Holton, Mona El-Naggar, Priyamvada Natarajan, Darryl Pinckney and more.
Featuring a keynote event with Brian Greene and Marina Warner.
Speakers:
- Molly E. Cummings, Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin
- Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Research Professor of Physics and Professor of the History of Science, Emeritus, Harvard University
- Priyamvada Natarajan, Professor, Department of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University
- David R. Smith, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department,Director of the Center for Metamaterial and Integrated Plasmonics Duke University
Moderator:
- Daniel Kevles, Stanley Woodward Professor Emeritus of History, History of Medicine & American Studies, Yale University
Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, I 202
55 West 13th Street, Room I-202, New York, NY 10011
Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 12:00 pm to 7:30 pm