SciPop: Where Science Intersects Pop Culture

Here are some recommendations for planning your own SciPop event:

• Align your topics and presentation dates with trending themes. We carefully reviewed book and movie schedules for high-impact events to select presentation dates likely to draw the largest audiences. For example, HBO’s Game of Thrones usually starts its regular season between late March and mid-April. As such, ‘A Song of Ice and Fire and Chemistry’ was scheduled for mid-March when fandom excitement and pre-season media was likely to be at its highest. Fan sites, along with entertainment or genre websites provide convenient lists of key premiere dates for movies, TV shows, comic books and graphic novels, videogames, etc. (see below).
• Be aware of parking and space considerations
• If you’re going to record your events and post them online, make sure to make them accessible (e.g. captioned), and that you get image releases from anyone appearing in the film
• Create your own publicity checklist and speaker guidelines to guarantee a cohesive timeline and structure for your event
• Be prepared to mentor speakers with regard to effective interactive teaching strategies. Some of our presenters were not immediately comfortable with building in two interactions. Be prepared to give them examples of intriguing and thought-provoking questions they can ask at various points throughout their presentations. One example of audience interaction from the talk about Breaking Bad was having the audience vote on whether they would or would not place bet. After the vote the speaker explained how people’s votes related to game theory.

Fan, Entertainment, and Genre Websites

Below is a survey instrument we have used to assess the SciPop Talks.

SciPop Talks! What do you think?

Why is this important? The information you provide will help us evaluate these events and ensure support for future ones.

What was most interesting about tonight’s talk?

What other questions did you have for the speakers?

(Answers for these questions will be posted on the website next week.)

What brought you to SciPop Talks! tonight? (circle all that apply)

Class Credit    Interest in Science    Interest in Pop Culture    Walked By   

Group Activity        Other: ______________________________________        Don’t want to share

Are you a (circle all that apply):

UNL student    UNL faculty/staff    Doane student    Doane faculty/staff     Community member        Other: _______________    Don’t want to share

What is your gender? ____________________    Don’t want to share

Are you Hispanic or Latino (circle one answer)?  Yes  |  No  |  Don’t want to share

Please circle all racial groups you identify with:  American Indian or Alaska Native  | Asian  |  Black or African American  |  Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander  |  White | Don’t want to share

What’s your age?    18 & Under    19-24        25-35        36-50        50+