ISIS Seminars on Reconstructive Science

James Oldham and Herbert Bernstein

ISIS and the Secoya Survival Project
Crossroads In the Study of the Americas (CISA) seminar at Five Colleges, Inc. in Amherst

Dr. Brian Viani (LLNL)

Nuclear Waste, Yucca Mountain, and the Values of a Scientist
   The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is examining Yucca Mountain, Nevada, as a site for a high level radioactive waste repository. The project is extremely controversial, both politically and scientifically. Environmental and activist groups have questioned the validity of the disposal plan. Many scientists think the project's poor management is jeopardizing the scientific research needed to determine whether waste can safely be stored at the site.
   Dr. Brian Viani, a geochemist at the DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, has worked on the Yucca Mountain Project for several years. Speaking not as a representative of the DOE, but as an autonomous scientist, he will share his views on the scientific and ethical implications of siting a high level waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

Dr. Michael Fortun (ISIS)

Iceland Cometh to Commercial Genomics: or The Importance of Being Multiple in Science Studies

Phil Lister

Saving Liza
   A few weeks after her fourth birthday, Liza Lister was diagnosed with leukemia. The ensuing two year journey until her death at age six first aimed for a cure and later strove to reduce her suffering. It was a roller coaster ride through the world of modern medical treatment at times elegant, often ghastly, and frequently experimental. Encountering such challenges evoked for Liza and her family a complex blend of fear, anguish, grace, and beauty. Liza's courageous intelligence and will-power to hold on to life (and even learn to read) shine a bright light upon the nature of modern medicine - and modern young people - in extremis.
   To discuss this experience, we will be joined by Philip Lister, Liza's father, a psychiatrist, poet, Hampshire College alumnus, and outstanding speaker and writer. Previously seen in New York Magazine, this touching story is an impressive account of interactions with modern medicine and their effects on our lives. You will be moved and informed.