International Space University Presents French Philosopher on Ethics and STEM June 21; Free and Open to Public
MELBOURNE, FLA.—Said by one journalist to be “tweaking the Devil’s whiskers” for his discussion of the relationships between science, culture and religion, Jacques Arnould, ethics adviser for CNES, the French Space Agency, will deliver a free lecture at Florida Institute of Technology on Thursday, June 21, from 2 to 5:30 p.m. His talk, on ethics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), is in conjunction with International Space University. The ISU opened its 25th Space Studies Program (ISU/SSP12) at the university and Kennedy Space Center on June 4; it runs through Aug. 3.
Arnould’s lecture will be in the F.W. Olin Engineering Building, Room 118. He will address the STEM/ISU students of Florida Tech University Professor Guy Boy and will remain in the room until 5:30 p.m. to answer questions.
Since 2001, CNES has engaged a new project, ethics as a new frontier for space enterprise, which opens up every domain of space activities for investigation: space debris and planetary protection, utilization of remote sensing data and geopositioning, space exploitation, military activities and space tourism, human space flight and extraterrestrial life.
“All these topics offer the opportunity to confirm the human dimension of space science and technology; there must be a strong interrogation into human condition and destiny,” said Arnould, who is an adviser at CNES, on the ethical, social and cultural dimensions of space activities.
Arnould, who teaches at the Institut Catholique in Paris, was awarded a silver medal in 2004 from the Académie Francaise in the Literature and Philosophy category for his book, The Devil’s Whiskers. An agricultural engineer and holder of a doctorate in science history and theology, he is especially interested in two themes: life and its evolution and outer space and its conquest.
Approximately 130 post-graduate university students from 31 countries are attending the two-month 2012 ISU/SSP to learn about all aspects of space programs and enterprises.
Public Invited
Also open to the public are the TEDx TED Talks on July 6, from 9 a.m. to noon at Florida Tech. Details are available on this and other public events at http://sun.isunet.edu/programs/space-studies.
For information on the June 21 lecture, contact Delilah Caballero at (321) 209-4960 or dcaballe@fit.edu.
For more information on ISU/SSP contact Caroline Schwob at extrelations@isu.isunet.edu. Register for TEDxISU at http://research.fit.edu/hcdi/tedxisu.php.
For ISU/SSP12 general information, visit www.isunet.edu.
About International Space University
Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Strasbourg, France, ISU is the world’s leading international space education institution. It is supported by the world’s leading space agencies and aerospace organizations. All ISU programs are taught at the graduate level and are dedicated to promoting international, interdisciplinary and intercultural cooperation in space activities. ISU also offers two master’s programs (M.Sc. in Space Studies and M.Sc. in Space Management) as well as an Executive MBA and executive programs.
