Actor and Visiting Professor Alan Alda Hosts a “Getting Beyond a Blind Date With Science” Discussion at Stony Brook University
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Alan Alda
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“For years, I worked to bring communication and science together in a fundamental way. And now Stony Brook is helping it happen — here and across the country,” Alda said. “The blossoming of the Center for Communicating Science in the School of Journalism at Stony Brook is a dream come true for me.”
The event is sponsored by the School of Journalism and its Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. The Alda Center works to enhance understanding of science by helping scientists and health professionals – from graduate students to senior scientists – learn to communicate more effectively with the public, public officials, the media, and others outside their own discipline. One of the Center’s best known activities is the Flame Challenge, an international contest in which scientists try to explain something complex to 11-year-olds – and 11 year-olds judge their entries.
The talk will be held in the University’s Student Activities Center Auditorium on the main campus in Stony Brook, N.Y. Seating is on a first come, first-served basis and is open to the public.
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About the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University
The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University was established in 2009 within Stony Brook’s School of Journalism, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, with the goal of training the next generation of scientists to communicate more effectively with the public. Stony Brook, located on Long Island, is part of the State University of New York. Since the Center began offering graduate level courses to Stony Brook University masters and PhD students in 2011, more than 300 graduate science students have taken its courses. Two graduate programs at Stony Brook now require its courses, and the Stony Brook School of Medicine has incorporated 10 hours of Alda Center instruction into the curriculum for incoming students.
DIRECTIONS:
From West, take the Long Island Expressway (LIE, I-495) eastbound to exit 62, and follow Nicolls Road (Route 97) north for 9 miles. The main entrance to the University is on the left. To find the campus via GPS, enter the address “100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY 11790.”
Reporter Contact:
Alida Almonte
University Media Relations Officer
631-632-6310; Twitter @sbunewsdesk