For more information, contact Stephanie Ely, (937) 775-3232. October 30, 2009 Wright State Presidential Lecturer to discuss relationship of art, science and culture on Nov. 5  The relationship among art, science and culture is the topic for the Wright State University Presidential Lecture Series on Thursday, Nov. 5, with JD Talasek, director of cultural programs for the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), as the guest speaker. The 7 p.m. event, free to the public, will be held in the Schuster Concert Hall of the Wright State Creative Arts Center.
“Art in the Science Institution” is the title of the address by Talasek, whose duties at NAS focus on the exploration of intersections between science, medicine, technology and visual culture.
“Within the Office of Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences, we develop public programs that explore the relationship among art, science and culture through activities like art exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, theatrical readings, panel discussions, multimedia performance art and online symposia. These interactions, and their potential for encouraging cross-disciplinary discussion, will be a main theme in my comments,” Talasek explained.
He has curated several exhibitions at NAS, including Visionary Anatomies, which toured through the Smithsonian Institution from 2004 through 2006. At the University of Delaware, where he has taught photography, he organized and curated Observations in an Occupied Wilderness: Photographs by Terry Falke and LightBox: The Visual AIDS Archive Project. Talasek was the creator and organizer of a recent international online symposium on Visual Culture and Bioscience.
He is the art advisor for Issues in Science and Technology magazine, published by the University of Texas and the National Archives. Talasek serves on an advisory panel that is exploring the creation of an art exhibition program at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Talasek is currently on the faculty at The Johns Hopkins University in the Museum Studies Master’s Program. He holds a B.S. in photography from East Texas State University, a M.F.A. in studio arts from the University of Delaware and M.A. in museum studies from the University of Leicester.
The Presidential Lecture is presented in partnership by the President’s Office, the Department of Art and Art History and the Department of Music. The 2009-10 series is entitled “The Year of Innovation: Transforming the Lives of Our Students and the Communities We Serve.”
The Wright State University Presidential Lecture Series was created to advance human justice and promote the university’s commitment to creating a diverse university community and learning environment. The university invites engaging speakers who are international or national leaders or scholars in cultural and human justice issues to provide the campus and the community an opportunity to hear new perspectives. Speakers have included Danny Glover, Maya Angelou, Oliver Sacks, Edward James Olmos and Richard Florida.
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