The campus community is invited to a conversation with John M. Barry, award-winning and No. 1 New York Times best-selling author and historian, on the power of storytelling to shape public understanding, policy and the ways science is understood in public life.
“An Evening with John M. Barry: Science, Storytelling and the Public Good” will take place from 7-8 p.m. on Monday (April 6) on Zoom.
Drawing on both his scholarship and his direct involvement at the intersection of science, government and society, Barry will discuss how narrative can strengthen public trust in institutions. Together, participants will consider how the humanities and sciences can work together to promote informed dialogue.
Barry is the author of numerous acclaimed books, including “Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America,” which was named the year’s best book on American history by the Society of American Historians and “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History,” which the National Academies of Sciences named the year’s best book on science or medicine.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Fortune, The Washington Post and Esquire, among other publications, and he has been a guest on every broadcast network in the United States, from Fox to Meet the Press and MSNBC, as well as internationally from Singapore to Germany.
The event is sponsored by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, School of Public Health and Reed School of Media Public Interest Communications Research Laboratory.
Attendees will have an opportunity to suggest questions when they register to receive the webinar link.