Illinois Global Institute

As the home to the area and global studies centers and thematic programs at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Illinois Global Institute is dedicated to fostering an environment where international perspectives are integral to teaching and research.

Center for African Studies * Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies * Center for Global Studies * Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies * Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies * Center for the Study of Global Gender Equity * European Union Center * LAS Global Studies * Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies * Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center * The Program in Arms Control and Domestic and International Security

 

Seminar Series - Dr. Matt Caplan

Sep 19, 2024   5:00 pm  
Coble Hall, Conference Room 108 -- 801 S. Wright Street
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Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
ACDIS and SSG
Speaker
Dr. Matt Caplan
Contact
ACDIS
E-Mail
acdis@illinois.edu
Views
271
Originating Calendar
ACDIS: Arms Control & Domestic and International Security

How To Teach Ten Million People About Nuclear Weapons
 
Abstract:

YouTube and TikTok are the new front line for science popularization. For the past decade, I have worked as a writer and scientific consultant for several YouTube channels, including 'In A Nutshell' by Kurzgesagt GmbH and 'PBS Space Time' by PBS Digital Studios, having contributed to about a hundred educational videos with combined view counts of a billion. Among the most popular topics are nuclear weapons issues – shortform videos offer an incredibly efficient way to inform millions of people and shape public opinion, but only if the content is sufficiently engaging and paced with a carefully chosen information density. In this talk, I will discuss some experiences ‘behind the scenes’ as a YouTuber, share some lessons learned, and describe some best practices for public scholarship online.

 Bio:

Matt Caplan is an Associate Professor of Physics at ISU. He completed his BS at the University of Virginia, and his PhD from Indiana University in 2017 won the Dissertation Award in Nuclear Physics from the APS. Prior to joining ISU Dr. Caplan was a postdoctoral fellow at McGill. Among other honors, he is a Kavli Scholar of the KITP and a 2023 Cottrell Scholar. His research primarily studies the interiors of white dwarfs and neutron stars, and he is a co-investigator of the Simons Collaboration for Extreme Electrodynamics of Compact Sources. Dr. Caplan was an inaugural Fellow of the Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction, and at ISU he chairs Twelve Thousand Bombs, a distinguished seminar series on nuclear weapons. 

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