List of Themes by Year

(1995) The Origin and Evolution of the Universe
(1996) The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth and Elsewhere
(1997) On Becoming Human: Our Evolutionary History
(1998) The Human Brain and the Human Mind
(1999) How Things Work in Science and Technology
(2000) Astrobiology: Looking for Life in the Universe

Narrative History
by Barbara Kennedy, chair of the lecture committee

The Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science is a series of Saturday-morning lectures begun in 1995 by a group of Penn State Eberly College of Science faculty in the Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry. It was an innovative move for our college because these lectures were designed for the enjoyment and education of average citizens rather than for a specialized audience composed exclusively of scientists, as were our other annual lectures at that time. Abhay Ashtekar, director of the center and holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Physics, explained at that time, "One of the missions of the center is to improve scientific literacy both on and off campus by presenting such public lectures."

The themes of each year's series, which have ranged between six and eight lectures each, include: "The Origin and Evolution of the Universe" (1995), "The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth and Elsewhere" (1996), "On Becoming Human: Our Evolutionary History" (1997), "The Human Brain and the Human Mind" (1998), "How Things Work in Science and Technology" (1999), and "Astrobiology: Looking for Life in the Universe" (2000).

Although our budget did not allow us to advertise for these lectures in newspapers during the first year, we typically had standing-room-only crowds in a room that seats about 60 people. One of the lectures that year was scheduled for the day on which the national-champion football team's celebratory parade through town had to be canceled because of a heavy snow storm--nevertheless, 40 people somehow made it through the snow to hear our lecturer talk about the origin and evolution of the universe. This initial year was such a huge success that Dean Gregory Geoffroy decided to adopt the lecture series as a college-wide project and to provide it with a budget, from funds provided by Pfizer, which would allow us to upgrade the series in ways designed to enhance its public-outreach mission.

Although we moved the lecture to a larger room during 1996 and 1997, we continued to have standing-room-only crowds of over 250 people during the second and third years of this series. In response to numerous requests that we move the lectures to a larger hall, we held the 1998 lectures in a room that seats about 330 people--and had overflow crowds there, as well. To accommodate them, we set up a TV monitor in the lobby outside the lecture hall, where many who preferred to sit rather than taking standing-room-only positions in the auditorium chose to watch the lectures. To accommodate the many audience members who wished to question the speakers following each lecture, we set up two microphones in the aisles and people queued up behind them to wait their turn.

The 1996 and 1997 lectures were broadcast by a local cable television company that specializes in education and government issues. Many of our lectures have been audio taped and offered for resale at cost. We received additional support from the Pfizer and Penn State's Office of Continuing and Distance Education for videotaping and audiotaping the 1998 lectures. We loaned the master tapes to Penn State's Office of Audiovisual Services, which enabled people to obtain copies merely for the cost of duplicating them.

The 1999 lectures were published as a special section in the May issue of Research Penn State that year. This section was reprinted as a stand-alone brochure and distributed, with Pfizer's support, to an even wider audience than can attend the lectures, including to science teachers and their students throughout Pennsylvania. Plans are underway for the publication of a feature on the 2000 lectures in Research Penn State and Penn State Outreach magazines, and for its broadcast on the local community's television network.

"Genomics" is the theme for the 2001 lectures, which will take place on consecutive Saturday mornings beteween the end of winter break and the beginning of spring break. Speakers in this year's series will discuss such topics as genetically modified foods, the possible implications of the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, recombinant DNA technology, disease-causing genetic mutations, and diagnosis of genetic diseases and the resulting ethical issues.

In summary, the Penn State Lectures on the Frontiers of Science have been highly successful in attracting a broad cross-section of our local population as an enthusiastic and loyal audience. In addition, a number of people have reported that this series has become the benchmark model for other public-outreach lectures at Penn State.

(last update: 1 August 2000)

Members of the Planning Committee

Wolfgang Ernst (physics),
Simon Gilroy (biology),
Mark Handcock (statistics),
Barbara Kennedy (chair),
Pablo Laguna (astronomy and astrophysics),
Karl Mueller (chemistry),
Frank Pugh (biochemistry and molecular biology), and
Howie Weiss (mathematics)

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This page was last updated on 11 October 2000

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