September 3, 2008 — Students at the University of Virginia will launch a new forum this fall: the Jefferson Fellows Forum for Interdisciplinary Dialogue.

The inaugural forum, "The Art of Science & the Science of Art," scheduled for Sept. 27, will explore the relationship between the sciences and the humanities, as well as between various facets of academia and the world at large. All events will be held at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, 2201 Old Ivy Road in Charlottesville.

U.Va. Jefferson Fellows and Jefferson Scholars — graduate and undergraduate students, respectively, who are awarded full merit-based scholarships to attend the University through a competitive process — are organizing the inaugural forum, which they hope will become an annual event.

"Our aim is to foster conversation among disciplines through this event," said Lanier Sammons, a second-year graduate student and Jefferson Fellow. "We're hoping to involve faculty and students from throughout the University of Virginia as well as the local community and neighboring universities in the dialogue."

The forum, which is free and open to the public, is being funded by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation.

The forum's schedule appears below. Click here for more details.

Jefferson Fellows Forum for Interdisciplinary Dialogue
Saturday, Sept. 27
(All events at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, 2201 Old Ivy Road, Charlottesville)

10:40 a.m.­noon. Panel discussion: "The Origins and Engines of Design: What Motivates Us to Create? How and Why Do We Proceed?"

1-1:50 p.m. Keynote Address: Bernie Frischer, director, U.Va. Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities

2-3:20 p.m. Panel discussion: "The 21st-Century Good Samaritan: Understanding the Imperative to Help"

3:30 - 4:50 p.m. Panel discussion: "Scaling the Ivory Tower: Adapting Specialized Knowledge to Mass Culture"