On Narrative

Friday, April 12th, 2013

Scott Waitukaitis is a PhD candidate in the Department of Physics at the University of Chicago. His research has wandered through magnetic signals in solar flares, quantum computing in cold atoms, triboelectrification in dust and grains, and shear thickening in non-Newtonian fluids. Broadly speaking, his work seeks to uncover mystery in the ordinary and order in the complex. Outside of science, he dabbles in language, languages, and art.

Stephen “Seed” Lynn is a teacher, artist, problem solver (and troublemaker) currently living in the Chicagoland area. Through a practice that heralds deep listening and sharing, Seed assists communities in the emergence of their most necessary narratives, often across political, social and cultural boundaries. Currently, his work is applied in the broader contexts of new media, game design, policy, and research. He builds on the legacy of story-catchers and -tellers alike, and those whose deepest vocation is to lend voice to those most silenced by oppression.

Ty Turley is a PhD candidate in the Department of Economics. His research focuses on the social dimensions of development policy. He studies how NGOs and government programs interact with informal institutions at the village level in poor, developing countries. He is also interested in using film to educate and disseminate his research findings.

Sophia Rhee received her BFA in 2011 from New York University, New York, and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Chicago. She works in the mediums of video and film. Her work is interested in historical and ethnographic representation on motion film and how particular cinematic forms can be utilized or dismantled as a means of making new forms and old forms anew.

Chris Russell is a second-year PhD student in Radio, Television, and Film at Northwestern University. His research focuses primarily on gender and computing culture, often in the context of digital gaming. His dissertation, tentatively titledNerds: Masculinity and Procedural Culture, is a cultural history of the gendering of computation through the figures of the nerd and the dork.

Philip Ehrenberg is a third-year year in the College studying philosophy. His interests in the field include bioethics and conceptions of autonomy and justice. His art medium of choice is film, though he is currently exploring and greatly enjoying game design.