Stony Brook University Faculty of Sciences and Humanities

2022 FSH Fall Seminar I: The Biography of a Black Hole: How an Idea Once Hated by Physicists Came to Be Loved Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2022 Time: 12:30 PM - 14:00 PM Speaker: Dr. Marcia Bartusiak Dr. Marcia Bartusiak has combined her undergraduate training in journalism at American University with a master’s degree in physics from Old Dominion University, Marcia Bartusiak has been covering the fields of astronomy and physics for more than four decades. A Professor of the Practice Emeritus in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at MIT(Massachusetts Institute of Technology), she is the author of seven books on astrophysics and the history of astronomy, including Einstein’s Unfinished Symphony on gravitational-wave astronomy (winner of the 2001 American Institute of Physics Science Communication Award) and The Day We Found the Universe (winner of the History of Science Society's Davis Prize). In 2008 she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, cited for “exceptionally clear communication of the rich history, the intricate nature, and the the modern practice of astronomy to the public at large.” Abstract For more than half a century, physicists and astronomers engaged in heated dispute over the possibility of black holes in the universe. The strange notion of a space-time abyss from which no light can escape seemed to confound all logic. This lecture will recount the frustrating, exhilarating, and at times humorous battles over the years as physicists, from Albert Einstein to Stephen Hawking, wrestled with this dazzling idea. Dr. Bartusiak will show how the black hole helped revive Einstein’s greatest achievement, the general theory of relativity, after decades of languishing in obscurity. Not until astronomers discovered such surprising new phenomena as neutron stars and quasars did the once-sedate universe transform into an Einsteinian cosmos, filled with both black holes and sources of titanic energy that can be understood only in the light of relativity.    

2022 FSH Spring Seminar II: The Politics of Nationalism Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2022 Time: 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM Speaker: Dr. Leonie Huddy Dr. Leonie Huddy is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Stony Brook University. She is the co-editor (with David O. Sears and Jack Levy) of the 2nd edition of the Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology, served as co-editor of the journal Political Psychology from 2005 till 2010, is past-president of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP), serves on the American National Election Studies Board of Overseers, appears regularly on CSB Radio as an exit poll analyst, and serves on numerous editorial boards in political science. Huddy has written extensively on social and political identities, emotions, reactions to terrorism, gender and politics, and race relations. She is the co-author (with Stanley Feldman and George Marcus) of Going to War in Iraq: When Citizens and the Press Matter published by the University of Chicago Press. Abstract Many populist parties promote nationalistic country-first policy platforms. In the United States, for example, the Republican Party has increasingly adopted nationalistic policies such as opposition to immigration and multilateralism, culminating in the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Similar agendas have been adopted by political parties in Western European multiparty systems. The increased salience of nationalism in the platforms and rhetoric of political parties raises an important question about the extent to which a nationalistic agenda has broad public appeal. Have democratic publics become more nationalistic over time in the US, Western Europe, and elsewhere? Or are levels of nationalism relatively stable in a population and it is the political relevance of nationalism that has increased over time? To address these questions, this seminar will examine the political psychology of national attachments, differentiating between patriotism or love of country and nationalism which is more akin to a sense of national superiority. This seminar will then show that political parties can increase the political salience of nationalism, although its appeal may be limited to those from the majority ethnic and religious group within a country. This raises important questions about the success of nationalistic appeals in immigrant nations marked by ethnic and racial diversity.  

2022 FSH Spring Seminar I: Humanities, Digital Humanities, and Meta Humanities Date: Wednesday, April 6, 2022 Time: 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM Speaker: Dr. Eunsoo Lee Dr. Eunsoo Lee is a professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He earned a Ph.D. in Classics at Stanford University, Stanford, U.S.A. His research areas include classics, history of sciences, and digital humanities.  Abstract Digital humanities, as the intersection of computing and the disciplines of the humanities, have offered new opportunities for teaching and research innovation that complement the traditional approach in the humanities. While surveying the past, present, and future studies in the humanities, this lecture explores how the digital transformation will influence humanities studies, and vice versa.   

2021 FSH Fall Seminar II: Religion, Science, and Cultural Conflict in U.S. Politics Date: Friday, December 3, 2021 Time: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM Speaker: Dr. Stephen T. Mockabee Dr. Stephen T. Mockabee is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati where he directs the Graduate Certificate in Public Opinion & Survey Research. His research interests include elections, public opinion, survey research methodology, and religion and politics.  His work has appeared in a variety of professional journals such as Political Research Quarterly, Political Analysis, Political Behavior, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Politics and Religion, as well as in numerous edited volumes. His research on poll workers, conducted in collaboration with colleagues at the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, where he has served as a visiting scholar, was funded by the Pew Center on the States' Make Voting Work project. Prof. Mockabee currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion and has served as Program Chair of the Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. His recent research has examined public opinion about human origins and the teaching of evolution in public schools.  Prior to joining the faculty at Cincinnati, he served for several years as a research associate of the Center for Survey Research at Ohio State University. Abstract American politics has often been described in terms of a “culture war” over controversial social issues, such as abortion or same-sex marriage, that divide the traditionally religious from the secular. However, this lecture will argue that “cultural” politics should be understood more broadly as a style of political argumentation that focuses on symbolic community boundaries. The lecture will discuss contemporary examples of cultural politics in the U.S. including denial of scientific consensus on human origins, climate change, genetically modified foods, and vaccinations – including lingering resistance to COVID-19 vaccines. This lecture will explore how strategic politicians have connected science-related policies to religiously charged messages, transforming what might otherwise be uninspiring, technical issues into cultural flash points.  

2021 FSH Fall Seminar: The Other and a Communicative Life Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2021 Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm Speaker: Dr. Hochul Kwak Dr. Hochul Kwak is a professor of Christian Ethics at United Graduate School of Theology, and a university chaplain at Yonsei University. He earned Ph.D in Theology, Ethics and Culture at Claremont Graduate University, California, U.S.A. His research areas include human rights and religion, climate crisis, and the study of the other. Abstract This lecture deals with the issue of communication with those who are different. We are living in a multicultural, multi religious, and multiethnic society. In a globalizing era, migration has brought salient differences to everywhere in the world. In a fast-changing society, the older generation has difficulty in understanding the younger generation. We are exposed to diverse kinds and levels of differences. While cultural differences can enrich our capacity to understand those who are different, we are witnessing exacerbation of cultural conflicts in every dimension of social life. Based on the concept of the other which is sophisticatedly developed by Emmanuel Levinas, this lecture aims at addressing such conflictual relationships among people in such a way as to build a constructive relationship with the other. 

2021 FSH Spring Seminar: Sports as a Diplomatic Tool: State of the Art Date: Friday, May 28, 2021 Time: 12:00 - 1:00 pm Speaker: Dr. Giwoong Jung Dr. Giwoong Jung is currently the vice-head at HK+ National Strategies Research Project Agency, and the president of Minerva Political Sciences Association. He earned his Ph.D in Political Science at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Abstract Sport as a (potential) political issue – Sport has ideological potentiality.Embedded cultural subjects in sport can be converted into political ones atany time. Sport is also a good device for promoting social cohesion, makingnational identity, improving the national image abroad. Modern Sport hasbeen constructed by the demands of the state and capital. Domestically, it is adevice for political image manipulation, and externally it can be used as adevice for diplomatic purposes. Especially, sport can be used as a tool fordialogues or improving the relationship between hostile countries. It has lessburden when compared with political, economic and military agenda. Itdoesn’t have pending issues which must be solved. Sport has the effect ofhaving feelings of unification. Sport can have a great ripple effect withrelatively little cost. Against this backdrop, the lecture will deal with thevarious aspects of sport diplomacy.