The University of Rhode Island’s honors colloquium will address technological advances expected over the next 20 to 30 years and their impact on humankind.
Talks will take place Tuesday evenings, at 7:30 p.m. from September through December 2011, at Edwards Auditorium on URI’s Kingston campus. The complete season line-up follows:
Tuesday, Sept. 13
Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil on exponential growth and its consequences.
Tuesday, Sept. 20
Author and futurist Peter Schwartz on the interplay of geopolitics and technology in the future.
Tuesday, Sept. 27
Three-time Hugo award-winning science fiction author Vernor Vinge on what sci-fi writers know about the future.
Tuesday, Oct. 4
Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and urologist Anthony Atala on making new organs, now and in the future.
Tuesday, Oct. 11
Bioengineer and MacArthur Fellow Jim Collins on Synthetic Biology: Life Redesigned.
Tuesday, Oct. 18
URI professor and nanotechnologist Jason Dwyer on current and future trends in nanotechnology.
Tuesday, Oct. 25
Technologist James Bellingham, hurricane researcher Joseph Cione and roboticist Chris Roman on the use of drones and robots to study the ocean, the atmosphere and their coupling.
Tuesday, Nov. 1
Biological engineer and brain and cognitive scientist Ed Boyden on enhancing the brain’s past, present and future.
Tuesday, Nov. 8
Cognitive scientist Deb Roy and media researcher Johanna Blakleyl on social media.
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Cybersecurity expert Richard Clarke on cyberwarfare.
Tuesday, Nov. 29
Director of the Center for Bioethics, Science and Society at Northwestern University Laurie Zoloth on ethics and genetics.
Tuesday, Dec. 6
Honors Colloquium students on their envisioned future as informed by the 2011 Honors Colloquium course and lectures.
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