Central Conversations for The Women Who Mapped the Stars
We are excited to offer Pre and Post show Central Conversations with acclaimed artists and scholars for The Women Who Mapped the Stars!
All Central Conversations are open to the public; seats are available on a first come, first serve basis.
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Scholar Social with Owen Gingerich
Owen Gingerich is an emeritus professor of astronomy and the history of science at Harvard University and an emeritus senior astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. He is a leading authority on the 16th-century Polish cosmologist Nicholas Copernicus and the 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler.
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The Drake Equation Plays
Come hear readings of ten-minute plays inspired by the Drake Equation, which tries to estimate the number of alien civilizations humanity might be able to communicate with. Inspired by the adventurous spirit of astronomers celebrated in The Women Who Mapped the Stars, playwrights from the Catalyze Playwriting Group (a product of CC@MIT) will be on hand to lead conversations about the plays and this remarkable theory. Seating limited: first come, first served. Note: There are two dates for this event April 21st and 28th at which different plays will be read. -
2018 Catalyst Collaborative@MIT Symposium: Boundaries
Boundaries: we can set them, break them, be limited by them and move beyond them. This theme is found in both both art and science. Join a panel of local university students (from MIT, Northeastern, Harvard and Tufts) as they discuss their projects at the boundaries of science and the arts, and then join a conversation with them about ideas inspired by the world premiere of The Women Who Mapped the Stars at Central Square Theater. -
Press Night Celebration for The Women Who Mapped the Stars
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Scholar Social with Lindsay Smith Zrull
Lindsay Smith Zrull is the Curator of Astronomical Photographs at the Harvard College Observatory. In addition to giving historical tours of the observatory and caring for Harvard’s 500,000 astronomical glass plate photographs, she runs the daily operations for the DASCH Project (Digital Access to a Sky Century @ Harvard). Smith Zrull is passionate about the groundbreaking work women accomplished in past centuries and she enjoys speaking with the public about Harvard Observatory’s historic women computers and astronomers.
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Scholar Social with Kimberly Arcand
Kimberly Kowal Arcand is the Visualization Lead for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which has its headquarters at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Arcand is an award-winning producer and director. She is a leading expert in studying the perception and comprehension of high-energy data visualization across the novice-expert spectrum. As a science data “storyteller” she combines her background in molecular biology and computer science with her current work in the fields of astronomy and physics.
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Artists & Audiences: The Women Who Mapped the Stars
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Scholar Social with Katie Frey
Katie Frey is the Assistant Head and Digital Technologies Development Librarian at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, where she has worked since 2012. Katie manages Project PHaEDRA, the initiative to digitizing and transcribe logbooks written by the women computers who worked at the Harvard College Observatory in the mid to late 1800s. Katie holds a Master's in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a BS in Astronomy from San Diego State University. -
Developing a New Play: A Conversation with the Playwright and Director
Join playwright Joyce Van Dyke and director Jessica Ernst as they discuss how this production of The Women Who Mapped the Stars came to fruition, from idea to script to reading to stage. Learn more about how new plays are developed, and what challenges and inspirations influenced the way this new play is performed today. -
Mapping a Path Today: Roles and Challenges
How do we continue on our path of progress for the next generation? How can we ensure that women bring their full potential to, and, benefit from humanity's science and technology-driven future? These are questions we invite the audience to discuss following the matinee performance of Van Dyke’s play led by a dynamic panel including the playwright, Joyce Van Dyke and several voices from the science community to share their experiences and provoke:- Joyce Van Dyke, Playwright
- Regina Jorgenson, Director, Maria Mitchell Obervatory
- Prof. Meenakshi Narian, Professor of Physics, Brown University
- moderated by Raji Patel, Co-director, MIT NASA Space Grant Program
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Pre-show Panel with Lynn Redding Carlson, Daina Bouquin, and Lindsay Smith Zrull