The Cosmos is a Black Aesthetic
What does it mean to read the cosmos through Black and queer thought? This talk considers the historical relationship Black thinkers and creators have had with the universe and what it teaches us about making meaning of science.
- Date and Time: Tuesday, April 15, 7 PM
- Location: The Davis Center Multipurpose Room
- Accessibility Information: The Multipurpose Room is on the ground floor of the Davis Center and it is ADA accessible. There are all-gender restrooms on each floor of the building.
Student-only session (Apr 15, 4:45 PM)
- Date and Time: Tuesday, April 15, 4:45-5:45 PM
- Location: The Davis Center Multipurpose Room
- Session Description: This is session for students only, hosted by the Davis Center and Dively Committee, in which Dr. Prescod-Weinstein will share briefly about her journey through academia and then open the floor to Q+A.
Speaker bio
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an associate professor of physics and astronomy and core faculty in women’s and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire. Her research in theoretical physics focuses on cosmology, neutron stars, and dark matter. She is also a researcher of Black feminist science, technology, and society studies. She was a co-convener of Dark Matter: Cosmic Probes in the 2021 Snowmass particle physics community planning process and a member of the National Academies Elementary Particles: Progress and Promise particle physics decadal committee from 2022-2024. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein is currently a member of the Department of Energy High Energy Physics Advisory Panel. She is also the creator of the Cite Black Women+ in Physics and Astronomy Bibliography.
Nature recognized Dr. Prescod-Weinstein as one of 10 people who shaped science in 2020, and Essence magazine has recognized her as one of “15 Black Women Who Are Paving the Way in STEM and Breaking Barriers.” A co-creator of the 2018 letter against sexism in particle physics and 2020 Strike for Black Lives, she received the 2017 LGBT+ Physicists Acknowledgement of Excellence Award for her contributions to improving conditions for marginalized people in physics and the 2021 American Physical Society Edward A. Bouchet Award for her contributions to particle cosmology.
Dr. Prescod-Weinstein is also a columnist for New Scientist and Physics World. Her first book The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred (Bold Type Books) won the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the science and technology category, the 2022 Phi Beta Kappa Science Award, and a 2022 PEN/Oakland Josephine Miles Award. It was named a Best Book of 2021 by Publishers Weekly, Smithsonian Magazine, and Kirkus and was a finalist for multiple awards including the 2022 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. The Disordered Cosmos was also longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize in Caribbean Literature. In 2022, Dr. Prescod-Weinstein was the inaugural top prize winner in the mid-career researcher category of the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communication. She is now working on her second book for general audiences, The Edge of Space-Time (Pantheon Books), and an academic book, The Cosmos is a Black Aesthetic (Duke University Press). Originally from East L.A., she divides her time between the New Hampshire Seacoast and Cambridge, Massachusetts.