Cardiff BookTalk: Story of Your Life/Arrival

This event has ended.

Following on from last year’s diverse BookTalk schedule, we are pleased to announce our first event of the year, which will draw on themes from literature and film. We will begin this year’s BookTalk schedule in the Science Fiction genre, with discussion of Ted Chiang’s Story of Your Life, and Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016), the film based on Chiang’s novella.

BookTalk will be joined by four expert speakers to discuss Story of Your Life and its film adaptation:

• Dr Orestis Palermos is a Lecturer in Philosophy at Cardiff University. Orestis works at the intersection of philosophy of mind, epistemology and philosophy of science. He is interested in the way philosophy can impact the design of emerging technologies.
• Dr Catherine Laing is a Lecturer in Language and Linguistics at Cardiff University. She is interested in psycholinguistics – how language is manifested in the mind – particularly in relation to how children and adults learn language.
• Jenifer Millard is a Postgraduate Researcher in the Galaxies Department of the School of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University. Her research focuses on exploring dust in galaxies, throughout space and cosmic time. She is also co-host of a bi-monthly astronomy and space podcast called Awesome Astronomy, where she discusses the latest news, debunks conspiracy theories, debates the greatest dilemmas facing modern astronomy and space travel, and interviews anyone she can get her hands on, from astronauts to engineers to scientists.
• Matthew Allen is an astrophysicist, working in education and science engagement, to excite and educate people about all things space! He first became amazed by astrophysics and space by watching and reading sci-fi, so he now hopes to inspire other people in the same way!

The speakers will present and there will be plenty of opportunity for audience questions and discussion. You may want to read Story of Your Life or watch Arrival prior to this event.

Each of our speakers will present a 10-15 minute talk, explaining how their research intersects with our chosen book, and then there is an opportunity for (always lively!) audience questions and discussion.

The main event will be preceded by a reception with tea, coffee, and biscuits at 6.30pm in Cardiff University’s School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Maindy Road, Cardiff.

Tickets are free and all are welcome!