TalkBack 360

Recent TalkBack 360 programs

Wednesday, March 20, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
MIT Museum, first floor

TalkBack 360: Science on Trial (view video)
Rebuilding Credibility in the Face of Natural Disaster
When natural disaster strikes, who is held responsible? After the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake struck the Italian region of Abruzzo, killing more than 300 people, six seismologists were convicted of manslaughter. Nearly three years later, the city is still rebuilding. Join representatives from the city's reconstruction team in discussion with MIT experts on geology, architecture, and dispute resolution. Share your thoughts on the limitations of scientific data, and the obligation of scientists, city planners, and policy makers alike to predict and plan for the impact of natural disasters on local communities.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Panelists to include:
Maddalena D'Alfonso, Architect, curator, Milan Polytechnic University

John Durant, MIT Museum Director and Adjunct Faculty in the Science, Technology & Society Program (moderator)
Larry Susskind, Ford Foundation Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at MIT, Founder, Consensus Building Institute, and Vice-Chair, Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School
Robert van der Hilst, Head of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and Schlumberger Professor of Earth Sciences at MIT

This program is a co-production of the MIT Museum and the MIT School of Architecture & Planning.

We also encourage people to participate in the supplemental roundtable discussion, Suspended City: Rebuilding L'Aquila After the Earthquake of 2009, on Thursday, March 21 in the Bush Room at 77 Massachuetts Avenue. (click for map). Participants will include:
Maddalena D'Alfonso, Architect, curator, Milan Polytechnic University
Giuseppe Di Girolamp, Official architect for the Commissioner, Preservation of Cultural Heritage of L’Aquila
Barnaby Gunning, Architect, London
Alessandra Mancinelli, Archivist director of MIBAC, Ministry of Heritage and Culture of Italy, and Deputy Commissioner, Secretariat for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage of L’Aquila, 2009-2012
Luchiano Marchetti, National Commission for Forecasting and Preventing Major Risks - Cultural Heritage - Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy, and Deputy Commissioner for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage of L’Aquila, 2009-2012
Michele Nastasi, photographer, Polytechnic Milan
John Ochsendorf, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture at MIT (moderator)
Gary Van Zante, Curator of Architecture and Design, MIT Museum

This program is a co-production of the MIT Museum and the MIT School of Architecture & Planning. Funding has been provided by the School of Architecture and Planning, the Consulate of Italy in Boston, and the MIT Museum.

See previous discussions from TalkBack 360.