Past Events

May 28, 2014 | Preventing Cervical Cancer in Nicaragua

Can vaccines and screens be means of solidarity? Kaye Edwards (Assoc Prof, Haverford) will talk about why cervical cancer, which is largely preventable, remains the most common cancer among women in impoverished countries like Nicaragua. Her talk will cover the natural history of this disease to highlight potential points of intervention; the social, political and economic factors that help explain why cervical cancer mortality rates are up to 12-times higher in some countries than in the United States; and the larger issue of the need for community engagement in discussions about how to prevent and treat diseases. Continue Reading May 28, 2014 | Preventing Cervical Cancer in Nicaragua

May 14, 2014 | Broadening Participation in Science and Engineering: Social and Intellectual Diversity

Panel discussion about how cultural values shape what research questions are asked and how research is conducted, examining how research questions change depending on who is asking them, complex relations between research agendas and the socio-cultural identities of scientists, and the importance of diversity within STEM fields. Panelists: Faye Crosby (Distinguished Professor Psychology, UCSC), , Barbara Gee (Vice President of Programs for ABI), Joan Haran, (Research Fellow, Cesagene, Cardiff Centre for Ethical and Social Aspects of Genomics & Epigenetics) and Melissa Jurica (Associate Professor, MCD Biology, UCSC). Moderated by Ruth Müller (University of Vienna). Continue Reading May 14, 2014 | Broadening Participation in Science and Engineering: Social and Intellectual Diversity

May 08, 2014 | ANTHROPOCENE CONFERENCE: Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet

Can humans and other species continue to inhabit the earth together? Through noticing, describing, and imagining, we renew conversation about life on earth. Full schedule: ANTHROPOCENE: Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet Video documentation of the conference: http://anthropocene.au.dk/arts-of-living-on-a-damaged-planet/ … “Anthropocene: Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet” begins Thursday evening with a talk by acclaimed science fiction author… Continue Reading May 08, 2014 | ANTHROPOCENE CONFERENCE: Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet

May 01, 2014 | Film Screening “FIXED: The Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement”

A film screening event featuring “FIXED: The Science/ Fiction of Human Enhancement,” a new film which challenges old perspectives on disability, technology and the body. Post-screening discussion with Foster Andersen (Founder and President of Santa Cruz non-profit Shared Adventures) , Nancy Chen (UCSC, Prof of Anthropology), and Regan Brashear (LGBT Youth organizer).
Continue Reading May 01, 2014 | Film Screening “FIXED: The Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement”

Apr 23, 2014 | De-Extinction: Building Future Worlds with Extinct Organisms?

De-extinction is the proposed revival or re-creation of extinct species using synthetic biology. This Science and Justice Working Group symposium features panels exploring the de-extinction project and agenda. Panelists include Beth Shapiro (UCSC, EEB), Oliver Ryder (Director of Genetics and Kleberg Chair, San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research), Paul Koch (UCSC Dean of PBS and Prof of Earth & Planetary Sciences), Brian Switek (science writer, National Geographic blogs) and Allen Thompson (Oregon State University, Philosophy). Donna Haraway (Distinguished Professor Emerita, UCSC History of Consciousness Department) provides the closing commentary. Continue Reading Apr 23, 2014 | De-Extinction: Building Future Worlds with Extinct Organisms?

Feb 18, 2014 | Cocktail Hour: Allen Thompson “Inter-generational Justice and Issues in Ecosystem Management”

Thompson discusses a growing field of ecological thought that concerns the increasing emergence of non-analog or “novel” ecosystems and the subsequent need to develop an “intervention” ecology to supplement historic management principles of non-intervention, arguing that an intervention ecology will be required to achieve our preservation and conservation goals in a new world of rapidly changing ecologies. Continue Reading Feb 18, 2014 | Cocktail Hour: Allen Thompson “Inter-generational Justice and Issues in Ecosystem Management”

Feb 20, 2014 | WiSE Winter Luncheon: Addressing Gender Bias in the Sciences

The Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) group is hosting a luncheon on gender bias in the sciences. Have you ever wondered how to recognize and/or deal with gender bias in STEM careers? Have you known people who have been biased against, but are unsure of how to help them? Are you afraid that you yourself might be biased? Are you interested in the status of women in STEM fields? Continue Reading Feb 20, 2014 | WiSE Winter Luncheon: Addressing Gender Bias in the Sciences

Jan 22, 2014 | Science and Justice in an Age of Big Data: Biomedical Privacy & Genomic Openness

On January 22, 2014, the Science & Justice Working Group is hosting the first in a series of ongoing conversations about the unresolved issues raised by the recent push to expand efforts to collect and aggregate biological samples and data. Jenny Reardon (Science & Justice Research Center Director and Associate Professor of Sociology) will facilitate a conversation between Peter Yu (incoming President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Director of Cancer Research (ASCO) at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation) and David Haussler (Director of the UCSC Center for Biomolecular Sciences and Engineering). Continue Reading Jan 22, 2014 | Science and Justice in an Age of Big Data: Biomedical Privacy & Genomic Openness