World Famous Professor of Physics At OzU !

Alan Sokal will be the guest of Özyeğin University to deliver a seminar. Specialized in statistical mechanics; quantum field theory; mathematical physics; and computational physics, Sokal is best known to the general public for the famous “Sokal Affair” in 1996.

Alan Sokal will deliver a seminar entitled “What’s Science and Why Do We Need It?”. Sokal will talk about the intellectual discussions started after his article “hoax” known as “Sokal Affair” and the foundations of scientific thinking.

The seminar is open not only to scholars but everyone interested in science and scientific advancements. Technical language will be avoided as much as possible for participants from every background to enjoy and learn from Sokal’s seminar.

 

18 November 2011, Friday
Çekmeköy Campus, Auditorium

15:00-17:00 Prof. Dr. Alan Sokal
17:00-17:30 Reception


RSVP: Billur Emanetoğlu (billur.emanetoglu@ozyegin.edu.tr)

 

Who is Alan Sokal?

Alan David Sokal is a professor of physics at New York University and a professor of mathematics at University College London. Sokal received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1981. His research interests are statistical mechanics; quantum field theory; mathematical physics; and computational physics. To the general public he is best known for the famous “Sokal Affair” in 1996.

“Sokal Affair” started when Alan Sokal submitted a sham article to Social Text, a prestigious academic journal of postmodern cultural studies. The article was adorned with postmodern jargon and theories and embellished with references to leading postmodern thinkers but in fact did not have any scientific foundation. The article was not only published in Social Text but also received several approbations in postmodern journals. Upon the publication of the article, Sokal revealed in Lingua Franca that the article was actually a hoax, which thrust the Science Wars, the ongoing series of intellectual exchange on the objectivity of science within the academic world, into the public eye. The Science Wars had great repercussions in both the social sciences and humanities.