Cultural WG webinar – Alternative Visions of Space Exploration

“The most important lesson we learned from our first forays beyond our thin atmosphere was that we are in this together. We overcame gravity by working collectively toward an aligned goal. That same force must now allow us to overcome political and policy differences that are driven by circumstances such as what we look like, where we live, and who we love. Keeping our shared goals in mind can give us the ability to explore space for the benefit of all.”

(Lori Garver, Foreword to Schwartz, James S.J.; Billings, Linda; Nesvold, Erika. Reclaiming Space: Progressive and Multicultural Visions of Space Exploration,  Oxford University Press.) 

Agenda:

1. Introduction: Remo Rapetti
2. JS Johnson-Schwartz: Reflections on “Reclaiming Space”.
3. Erika Nesvold: Culture on the Moon: The Practical and Ethical Value of Including Diverse Cultural Perspectives in Space Exploration.
4. Comments and questions: Giulio Prisco, futurist, cosmist, author

Registration

Speakers

JS Johnson-Schwartz is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wichita State University where she teaches courses on the ethics of space exploration, engineering ethics, environmental ethics, and logic. Her research focuses on the ethics of space exploration and the philosophy of disability. She is author of The Value of Science in Space Exploration (Oxford University Press, 2020), and lead-editor of Reclaiming Space: Progressive and Multicultural Visions of Space Exploration (Oxford University Press, 2023) and The Ethics of Space Exploration (Springer, 2016).

Erika Nesvold is an astrophysicist who has worked as a researcher at NASA Goddard and the Carnegie Institution for Science. She is a developer for Universe Sandbox, a physics-based space simulator; cofounder of the nonprofit organization the JustSpace Alliance; and the creator and host of the podcast Making New Worlds. She is also the author of Off-Earth: Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space and co-editor of Reclaiming Space: Progressive and Multicultural Visions of Space Exploration.