The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts 2020-2021 Science and Arts Café lecture series will feature topics ranging from gene therapy to Japanese history to the role Hot Springs played in shaping popular music and more.
This year, the lecture series will be conducted virtually through ASMSA’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ARMathSciARts/. The speakers will present their lecture through a combination of Zoom and Facebook Live. Each lecture will last about a half-hour followed by an informal question-and-answer session conducted from queries collected on Facebook.
This year’s lecture series is sponsored by Mid-America Science Museum. The lectures will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 6, Nov. 17 and Dec. 1 in 2020 followed by sessions on Feb. 2, March 2 and April 6 in 2021.
The dates and speakers for this year’s series includes:
Oct. 6, 2020 — Gene Therapy with CRISPR-Cas9
ASMSA life sciences specialist Dr. Patrycja Krakowiak will explore the latest discoveries and applications of the new breakthrough in gene therapy called CRISPR-Cas9. She will share the origins, summarize the function and discuss the uses of this amazing new tool that could potentially cure most genetic diseases.
In 2020, Krakowiak was named one of 10 recipients of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation Teacher Innovation Awards, recognized with a regional teacher award for her contributions to the Arkansas Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and named a recipient of the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award.
Nov. 17, 2020 — Meiji Restoration
In 1868 after a nearly 250-year period of isolation, a group of insurgents overthrew the Shogunate to reinstate the Emperor to power in Japan. This major shift in government and sudden opening of international trade led to immense changes. Elizabeth Brown, a Japanese instructor at ASMSA, will discuss this major moment in Japanese history.
Brown teaches Japanese language and culture courses at ASMSA. She is a Fulbright scholar, poet and was featured in the September/October issue of HER of Hot Springs magazine.
Dec. 1, 2020 — Hot Springs and Its Roles in Shaping Popular Music
Between the Southern Club, the Arlington, Black Broadway on Malvern and the National Baptist Hotel, Hot Springs occupies an interesting historical space when it comes to popular music — partially due to its organized crime past and partially due to its unique history as a resort town that only cared about the color “green.” Few Hot Springs residents know that some of the kings of rhythm and swing bands held prolonged residencies in town, and fewer still know that acts and bands would frequently try out new material in Hot Springs before playing larger cities and venues. Dr. Thomas Dempster, a music instructor and ASMSA’s band director, will chronicle some of the significant developments and figures to pass through or begin life in Hot Springs.
A lifelong musician, Dempster is a composer, performer, writer and teacher. His original music has been played in more than 30 states and 15 foreign countries. He directs the wind ensemble and teaches various music courses at ASMSA.
Feb. 2, 2021 — Animal Behavior Modification
Have you ever gone to a zoo and wondered how the keepers can control wild animals while your pets won’t even get off the couch when you ask? Here is a little secret — they don’t. The eagle flying over your head at a demonstration has the option to leave at any time and land on anything it wants, including you.
How do zookeepers communicate with animals to get them to perform and return? Deana Hughes, an admissions coordinator at ASMSA, will discuss operant conditioning as well as the selective process used to select animals that become zoo ambassadors. She will focus on how operant conditioning is used to create a language that animals can understand and factors considered to ensure an animal’s success as an ambassador.
For nine years, Hughes has trained raptors, parrots, corvids, shorebirds and the occasional chicken as animal ambassadors for various conversation organizations such as Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas, the World Bird Sanctuary and the American Eagle Foundation.
She is a 2010 alumna of ASMSA and serves as an admissions coordinator in the school’s Office of Admissions.
March 2, 2021 — How We Know What We Know
Since the late 1980s, astronomers have discovered more than 4,200 planets around other stars. Most of these were discovered using two techniques — the radial velocity technique and the transit technique. Dr. Brian Monson, chair of ASMSA’s Science Department and a physics instructor, will discuss what makes these techniques possible.
Monson also serves as the director of the West Central Regional Science Fair, which leads to the Regeneron International Science Fair. He also teaches a variety of classes such as Optics, College Physics and Folk Music and Acoustics.
April 6, 2021 — Why a Foreign Language
There are numerous reasons to study a second language that go far beyond fulfilling a graduate requirement. ASMSA Spanish instructor Fernanda Espinosa will take a closer look at all of the reasons why learning a second language is beneficial on a personal level as well as for society as a whole.
In addition to teaching Spanish at ASMSA, Espinosa has lived in numerous countries, traveled extensively and fluently speaks English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. She has presented about incorporating games into the classroom at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Language Teachers Conference. She is also active in the American Council for Teachers of Foreign Languages and Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers’ Association.