KINGSTON, R.I. — August 24, 2017 — Hakeem Oluseyi has gone through his own amazing evolution, from a gun-carrying teen to an astrophysicist at NASA who co-hosts two TV shows and who appears regularly on CNN, NBC, MSNBC and Fox News.
When he visits the 溏心vlog免费B站 Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m., he鈥檒l talk about the even more astonishing and mysterious evolution of the universe in his lecture, 聽鈥淭he Birth of Being: From the Big Bang to Babies.鈥�
Oluseyi will lead off the University鈥檚 Honors Colloquium, its 鈥淥rigins: Life, the Universe and Everything.鈥� All 10 lectures start at 7 p.m. and all but one will be held in Edwards Hall, 64 Upper College Road. 聽Tickets are no longer available for the second lecture on Sept. 19 with Jane Goodall at the Ryan Center.
Space sciences education manager for NASA鈥檚 Science Mission Directorate, Oluseyi earned his master鈥檚 degree and doctorate in physics at Stanford University, and worked at a Silicon Valley company where he conducted research on computer chips, which earned him eight U.S. patents and four European Union patents. His inventions can be found in computer chips used every day. In addition to his position at NASA, Oluseyi is a distinguished research professor in the Department of Physics & Space Sciences at Florida Institute of Technology.
Talking about the scientific process and the results of modern science with students and the public around the world is of utmost importance to Oluseyi. He co-hosts Outrageous Acts of Science and How the Universe Works on Discovery Science Channel.
Now in its 54th year, this year鈥檚 edition of the colloquium will address such questions as 鈥淲here did we come from? How did the universe begin? How did intelligent, rational beings arise? And from such humble beginnings, how did we develop a mind that can ask these big questions?
鈥淪ince everything begins with the origin of the universe, it makes sense to start the colloquium with a scientist who can tell a dramatic story, not only about his own beginnings, but about the very beginning of everything,鈥� said one of the colloquium coordinators and professor of cell and molecular biology.
While there will be plenty of talk about the cosmos, the lecture series will also offer speakers who will discuss the origin of life, the evolution of humans and the nature of our unique conscious and unconscious mind.
On Sept. 26, Meave Leakey, a paleoanthropologist, National Geographic Hubbard Medal recipient, director of the Turkana Basin Institute, and research professor at Stony Brook University, will present the Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Women鈥檚 Studies Lecture at the colloquium.
鈥淢eave Leakey will bring her unique perspective on fossils that provide evidence of human evolution,鈥� said colloquium coordinator Holly Dunsworth, associate professor of anthropology and chair of the .
In an attempt to find evidence of the earliest human ancestors, Leakey and her team have concentrated their studies on sites in Kenya that are between 8 and 3 million years old. They discovered a new species and evidence of bipedality (using two feet for locomotion) from 4.2 million years ago.
鈥淒r. Leakey will talk about how she found these fossils and then once she did, how she determined what they say about evolution,鈥� Dunsworth said.
, colloquium coordinator, assistant dean for graduate recruitment and diversity initiatives and associate director for the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, is especially looking forward to two lectures: Heather Berlin鈥檚 talk, 鈥淭he Dynamic Unconscious Mind,鈥� on Nov. 14 and Anil Seth鈥檚 Dec. 5 lecture, 鈥淭he Nature of Human Consciousness.鈥�
An assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, Berlin conducts research on the neural basis of impulsivity, compulsivity, and emotion with the goal of more targeted treatment. She is also interested in the neural basis of consciousness and dynamic unconscious processes.
Seth, who will discuss human consciousness, is a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex where he is co-director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science.
鈥淧rofessor Seth combines philosophy and science to examine consciousness, and uses mathematical models,鈥� said Mosley Austin. 鈥淗e asks, why are we conscious and how can we measure it?
鈥淭hese lectures will focus on basic science research on the brain,鈥� said Mosley Austin, who wanted to be a neuroscientist since she was 15. 鈥淣euroscience is not just about disease and health; it鈥檚 about who we are as humans.鈥�
The other colloquium coordinators joining Chandlee, Dunsworth and Mosley Austin are: , associate professor of geosciences, and , professor of cell and molecular biology and director of the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory.
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