Women in Genome Sciences is hosting popular science writer and skeptic Jennifer Ouellette this Thursday. She’ll be giving a talk about popular science writing, blogging, and writing as an alternative career at 1:30pm in Foege Auditorium (room S060) at the University of Washington. Here’s a brief bio:
“Jennifer Ouellete is the director of the Science & Entertainment Exchange of the National Academy of Sciences and the author of three popular science books, including The Calculus Diaries: How Math Can Help You Lose Weight, Win in Vegas, and Survive a Zombie Apocalypse. She blogs about physics and space science for Discovery News and maintains a science-and-culture blog at Scientific American called Cocktail Party Physics.”
I know the time is crappy for most people with 9 to 5 jobs, but it’s really meant for UW students and faculty. But it should be a good talk, so please spread the word!
That looks great. I had hoped to attend the Greta Christina talk last week, but opted not to, due to my being employed at a certain large state university in the Pacific Northwest, and the need for me not to be seen as possibly endorsing her (what should not be) controversial views. The Ouellette talk, however, would probably be safe.
Sounds scary. Do they have some kind of STASI in place or what’s the deal with that institution? Something is very wrong with a state university that doesn’t allow progressive views to be held by it’s employees.
??? “Large state university” narrows it down, and I find it EXTREMELY difficult to credit that any Washington university would be so narrow minded. WSU? UW? Western? Eastern? Central? Evergreen certainly wouldn’t count, on several levels.
What benighted, backward, and barbaric department do you work in?
There is such a thing as unfounded paranoia.
I did not explain my position clearly enough, and so your accusation of unjustified paranoia *might* be proper, given the information you had. I work in a variety of settings, and the work I do requires strict neutrality – it may well have been perfectly okay for me to attend Greta Christina’s talk, but I like to err on the side of caution. For further clarity, it would not have been official representatives of the university, but possibly students and employees, who could be disturbed even by my attending such a talk, and who would have seen my neutrality as being suspect.
*sigh* I know that that is as clear as milk. Let me add, at least, that were I to attend, say, a campus talk given by William Lane Craig, that could also be seen as suspect. Oh, and because the need for my confidentiality is as important as my neutrality, it is best that I not name the school in question. *sigh* again.
Jennifer Ouellette rocks.
Tough job you have there, your neutralness!
+1
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