Lunch and Learn: Reputation and Reionization
Join us for Lunch & Learn, where you'll have the chance to socialize with other grad students and hear talks by students in History & Physics. Lunch & Learn is co-sponsored by the Graduate Division, the Graduate Student Association, and UCSB Library.
Pizza, soda, and salad will be served.
Be sure to RSVP to reserve your space
"Exploring the Epoch of Reionization through High-Redshift Quasars"
Molly Wolfson, Physics
Approximately 13 billion years ago, a pivotal epoch unfolded as the first stars and galaxies unleashed ionizing radiation that forever altered the state of our Universe. This transformation from a predominantly neutral state to the ionized cosmos we inhabit today provide us with a unique opportunity to see into the distant past. High-redshift quasars serve as bright sources illuminating the intergalactic medium at the end of this transition, a mere one billion years after the Big Bang. In this talk, I will present my research on deciphering the imprint left by the intergalactic medium on high-redshift quasar observations, shedding light on the processes driving the epoch of reionization.
"Public Memory and Cancel Culture: A Case Study in Victorian Celebrity"
Kristen Thomas-McGill, History
Before his suicide in 1903, Hector Macdonald was an internationally famous soldier-hero of the British empire, the kind of celebrity whose face appeared on trading cards and whose fans sabotaged his transportation in hopes of getting a glimpse of him. He is no longer a household name, but he is fondly remembered on websitres and social media as a gay man whose spectacular career and life were cut short by a homophobic society. But Macdonald wasn't gay- he was a child molester, and he ended his life just before he could be publicly charged with assaulting children. Tracing changes in attitudes towards childhood, sexual behavior, and the very concept of evidence, my research asks how and why public memory has allowed this celebrity's reputation to stand.
Note: Each talk will be recorded for personal use by the presenter, but no participant information or Q&A will be captured.