"Robot is 100!" | Opening the Doors to Contemporary Literature

(February 4, 2021) The Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles an UCLA Library coordinated this virtual panel discussion "Robot is 100!" exploring the influence of the sci-fi play "R.U.R." on many art forms and the future of robotics, moderated by Czech diplomat Jaroslav Olša Jr.
Speakers:
Maja Matarić | Chan Soon-Shiong Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, Neuroscience, and Pediatrics at USC, founding director of the USC Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center and interim Vice President of Research at USC
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro | Hugo and Locus finalist with some forty stories published in professional magazines and numerous anthologies, including Analog, Galaxy's Edge, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Nature.
Jaroslav Veis | Czech journalist, freelance writer, scriptwriter, translator and editor. He is the author of five sci-fi short story collections published in a time span of more than four decades, starting with "Experiment protřetí planetu" (Experiment for the Third Planet, 1976), and has translated a wide range of authors, such as Isaac Asimov, Brian W. Aldiss,
Cole Remmen | PhD candidate in the Theater Studies program at the University of California, Santa Barbara.