Event Description
“If your science gives you a result that you don’t like,
pass a law saying the result is illegal. Problem solved.” – Stephen Colbert
What role, if any, should scientists play in the
increasingly contentious landscape of public policy? Are we beyond the point of even asking this
question as science has become politicized on topics ranging from global
climate change to vaccinations to gun violence? How can objectivity and
advocacy go hand in hand as the scientific community seeks to continue
informing public debate with data and facts? This panel will address these very
questions from multiple disciplinary perspectives, and it will attempt to
situate these conversations in a broader context of the cultural moment in
which expertise and scientific method are being met with public skepticism and
private interests. |