VCU news

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University presents a two-day event bringing together a diverse array of scholars -- including scientists, engineers, humanists and artists -- as well as students and community leaders to spark discussion of three intersecting “E” themes: energy, environment and community engagement.

The festival, sponsored by VCU’s Science, Technology and Society (STS) Program, begins Oct. 1 and is being held in conjunction with the kickoff of VCU’s Year of the Environment.

“The E-Festival comes right in the middle of Governor Timothy Kaine’s year-long ‘Renew Virginia’ program to develop renewable energy, create science and technology ‘green jobs’ and preserve the state’s environment,” said Karen Rader, Ph.D., associate professor in the VCU Department of History and STS program director. “Such a conversation could not be more timely or more necessary.”

The E-Festival includes a participatory “paint a recycling dumpster” art project, a special screening of Earthdome Productions’ film “The Next Industrial Revolution” and a daylong symposium on the issues of engagement and sustainability, which concludes with a panel discussion on the challenges for a sustainable energy future.

The VCU E-festival concludes Friday evening, Oct. 2, with a staged reading at the Grace Street Theatre of “Louis Slotin Sonata” produced by the Carpenter Science Theatre. This original work by playwright Paul Mullin, which won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for a world premiere, delves into the social, moral and personal dimensions of nuclear physics, atomic energy and the limits and responsibilities of science. The reading will be followed by a discussion of the play and the issues it raises.

Visit http://www.has.vcu.edu/sts/ for more information about the E-Festival’s schedule and participants.