Online panel discussion: A&S astrophysicists explore interdisciplinary potentials of science and art

A group of scholars from the Faculty of Arts & Science will soon gather online to discuss the potential and the possibilities of connecting astrophysics and art.

The panel discussion titled, “Dark Matter and Metaphor: A Panel Discussion on Art and Astrophysics,” will feature University of Toronto astrophysicists Renée Hložek, Miriam Diamond, and David Curtin alongside Queen’s University cultural studies scholar Elvira Hufschmid.

As part of Drift: Art and Dark Matter, an art exhibition at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, the panelists will explore the potential for collaboration between astrophysicists and artists as it relates to dark matter — a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85 per cent of the matter in the universe.

Renée Hložek

Hložek is an associate professor at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics. A theoretical and observational cosmologist, Hložek’s work continues to accelerate our knowledge about the structure, origin and evolution of the universe. Using statistical methods and precise observations to answer cosmic questions, she makes measurements of both visible and microwave light with telescopes. She then uses these measurements to advance our understanding about the fundamental building blocks of nature.

• Read more about Renée Hložek.

Miriam Diamond

An assistant professor in the the Department of Physics, Diamond seeks to unravel one of the biggest questions regarding the foundations of our universe: the quest to find dark matter particles in the laboratory. Success would revolutionize the very core of modern physics and bring a better understanding to the universe.

• Read more about Miriam Diamond.

David Curtin

Curtin is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Canada Research Chair in Theoretical Particle Physics. He is a high energy phenomenologist, interested in finding and analyzing theories of particle physics beyond the Standard Model. His current areas of active research include, amongst others, the Higgs Boson, long-lived particles, the Hierarchy Problem, and cosmology. 

• Read more about David Curtin.

Elvira Hufschmid

Hufschmid is a multimedia artist and a doctoral candidate in cultural studies at Queen’s University. Her current research focuses on aesthetic transformation processes as a methodology for inter- and trans-disciplinary collaboration and learning. In her doctoral thesis, she applies such a strategy to investigate narratives of land enclosures as they relate to colonial property regimes of settler society.

• Read more about Elvira Hufschmid.