Is anybody out there? Seth Shostak, lead astronomer at the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) and host of the NPR science show Are We Alone? , will explore the human fascination with extraterrestrials in a lecture and panel discussion on Tuesday, September 8, 2009.
The panel discussion is titled “Why Do People Believe in Extraterrestrials?” and will take place at 4p.m. in Jordan Science Hall Room 101. The lecture—titled “When Will We Find ET?”—will take place at 8p.m. in DeBartolo Hall Room 101. Both events are free and open to the public.
Matthew Dowd, manuscript editor at the University of Notre Dame Press, will moderate the discussion panel. In addition to Shostak, panelists will include:
- Michael Crowe, Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., Professor Emeritus in the Humanities in the Program of Liberal Studies and Graduate Program in History and Philosophy of Science;
- Philip J. Sakimoto, First Year of Studies Learning Strategies Specialist and former acting director of NASA’s Space Science Education and Public Outreach Program; and
- Kenneth Filchak, lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences.
Shostak will be available to sign copies of his new book, Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist’s Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence , after each event.
Watch a May 2009 interview with Shostak here .
Originally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on August 24, 2009.