<p>Brown University is hosting a series of screenings, lectures and panel discussions with filmmaker Randy Olson. Olson frequently examines topics in science and the public perception or misperception of science. The events are open to the public without charge.</p>

Heather Leslie:
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — This week Brown University will host a series of film screenings, panel discussions and lectures titled “Narrative Connections: The Award-winning Work of Scientist-Turned-Filmmaker Randy Olson. Olson will discuss and answer questions about his work, which often focuses on the challenges involved in communicating science to the general public and the attacks on mainstream science in fields such as evolution and climate science.

Screenings include Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus, Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy, and Colonel Stubborn: The Last Bastard of Bataan Fights On. Each screening will be accompanied by panel discussions with Olson and experts from Brown and elsewhere.

Journalists are invited to attend any of the events, which are free and open to the public.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 (Darwin Day)

  • A screening of Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus
    7 p.m. in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts (154 Angell St.), Martinos Auditorium
  • Panel discussion featuring Erika Edwards, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown; Joseph Levine, science educator, writer, and producer; Ken Miller, professor of molecular and cellular biology at Brown; and Dov Sax, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown.
    8:30 p.m., Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

  • Questions and answers with Randy Olson: “A Critical Approach to Storytelling for the Science World.”
    Noon at the Brown Science Library, 3rd Floor, 201 Thayer Street
  • Lecture by Randy Olson: “Climate Skeptics: They’re Here; They’re ‘Queer;’ Get Used to Them.”
    5 p.m. in the Granoff Center (154 Angell St.), Martinos Auditorium
  • Panel discussion featuring Amanda Lynch, professor of geological sciences at Brown; Sunshine Menezes, executive director, Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting at the University of Rhode Island; Stephen Porder, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Brown
    6 p.m., Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium
  • Screening of Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy
    7:30 p.m., Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium

Thursday, February 14, 2013

  • Screening of Colonel Stubborn: The Last Bastard of Bataan Fights On
    5 p.m. in the Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium
  • Panel discussion with Kerry Smith, associate professor of history and chair of the Department of East Asian Studies at Brown; Sen. John Alexander Patterson, president emeritus, Philippine Scouts Heritage Society; and M. Tracie Shea, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown
    6:30 p.m. in the Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium

The events are sponsored by Brown’s Environmental Change Initiative, Center for Environmental Studies, and the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities, with the Departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Geological Sciences, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and History. Funding is provided by the Wendy and James Abrams Fund for Environmental Education.