Harvard University physics professor and Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Eric Mazur will visit the University of Mary Washington for three days in March. A nationally known innovator in science teaching and learning, Dr. Mazur will present several lectures as part of the university’s Founder’s Week activities. All events are free and open to the public or to local educators.
Dr. Mazur’s first public lecture on Wednesday, March 12, “How the Mind Tricks Us: Visualizations and Visual Illusions,” will begin at 8 p.m. in George Washington Hall, Dodd Auditorium. Dr. Mazur will use startling illustrations to demonstrate the important implications that new theories in neurobiology and cognitive psychology have for the presentation of visual information and for learning. The lecture is geared for a general audience and especially for anyone with an interest in the visual arts, teaching and learning, communications, psychology or the sciences. A reception will follow.
On Thursday, March 13, Dr. Mazur will present another open lecture “Time, Space, and Optical Physics” in an elementary astronomy class from 6 to 7 p.m. in Trinkle Hall, Room 106A.
Two other talks on Thursday are open to area teachers. Dr. Mazur will present “Confessions of a Converted Lecturer,” during a Teaching Innovation Program session at 11:45 a.m. in duPont Hall, Room 210 and “Tea and Conversation: Teaching Science” at 4 p.m. at Simpson Library. The open discussion will be moderated by Kelli Slunt, chair of the university’s chemistry department. For information and reservations, local educators may contact Charlotte Johnson Jones, reference and social sciences librarian at cjjones@umw.edu or 540-654-1742.
Dr. Mazur is the Balkanski professor of physics and applied physics at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1984. An internationally recognized scientist and researcher, he has done extensive work with optical physics, education, science policy, outreach and the public perception of science. At Harvard, he leads one of the largest research groups in the physics department.
Dr. Mazur is the author or co-author of more than 200 scientific publications. His book “Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual” explains how to teach large lecture classes interactively. He has served on numerous committees and councils, including advisory and visiting committees for the National Science Foundation. Dr. Mazur is a fellow of both the Optical Society of America and the American Physical Society. He received a doctorate in experimental physics from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands.
The Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program is an initiative of the national Phi Beta Kappa Society to contribute to the intellectual life of selected colleges and universities by fostering an exchange of ideas within the academic community. Dr. Mazur’s visit to the University of Mary Washington is sponsored by the university’s Kappa Chapter of Virginia, as well as the Campus Academic Resource Committee, the Teaching Innovation Program, the University Libraries and the departments of Art and Art History, Chemistry and Physics.
Phi Beta Kappa, founded in 1776, is one of the nation’s most prestigious academic honor societies and a leading advocate for the liberal arts and sciences at the undergraduate level. Mary Washington’s Kappa Chapter of Virginia is one of only 276 Phi Beta Kappa chapters nationwide.
For more information, contact Jones or visit pbkvisit2008.umwblogs.org.