Erin Dolgoy: Between Certainty and Disbelief: How Different Understandings of Science Influence Expectations

March 22, 2021

This event has taken place and no recording is available.

About the Lecture:

How do different understandings of science influence our expectations for scientific experimentation, technological innovation, and the possibility of establishing scientific laws and enduring truths about the universe, the natural world, and human beings? As the complexity of scientific information increases and the rate and scope of information dissemination also increase, scientists and non-scientists are often asked to evaluate scientific information in real-time with significant and immediate social and political effects, not only for us as individuals, but also for our families, communities, and countries.

In many instances, evaluating the legitimacy, credibility, and applicability of scientific information has become a political question, not simply a question of experimental veracity and consistent replicability. The Covid-19 Global Pandemic has brought these concerns to the forefront of public discussions.

This talk examines different approaches to and understandings of modern science, what science means, what it promises, how it is practiced, and what it can reasonably prove. 

About the Speaker:

Erin A. Dolgoy is Assistant Professor in Political Science at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. She teaches in the Political Science Department, the Search Program, and has contributed to the Program in Political Economy. This past semester she taught in Rhodes' Liberal Arts in Prison Program. Her research in political theory and the politics of the United States examines questions that concern knowledge, science, government, and society. Dolgoy holds a PHD and MA from Michigan State University in Political Science, an MA from the University of Alberta, and an HBA from the University of Toronto.  

About the Series: 

Part of the CU Engineering Leadership Program 2021-22 Lecture Series: The New STEM Enlightenment: Political Promises and Perils of Science and Technology 

This lecture series examines how America’s zealous promotion of science, technology, and scientific education affects American democracy. How does our reverence for science and technology alter the soul of our nation and its people? Can a citizenry educated under the auspices of modern science and charmed by the marvels of technology maintain the institutions and behaviors necessary for the survival of liberal government? Are our prospects for fostering human flourishing, for reclaiming a more nuanced civic discourse, and for producing citizen-leaders of prudence and character enriched or diminished by the habits of heart and mind cultivated by science education and technological dependence? Presented by the Engineering Leadership Program, which gratefully acknowledges the support of the Jack Miller Center and the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization. Photo credits: Erin Dolgoy: Jack Miller Center; Engraving: 'Monster Soup..." by William Heath, Wellcome Images, L00065 CC BY 4.0.

Additional spring 2021 speakers in this series: 

Bernhardt L. Trout: Thermodynamics, Atoms, and Citizenship, Feb. 5, 2021.