Dante Meets Einstein at Café Paradiso: Renewing the Vows Between Humanities and Science

Dante’s narrative poem The Divine Comedy and Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity were both inspired by the octagonal mosaic ceiling of the Baptistry of Saint John in Florence, Italy. Gazing upward, both Einstein and Dante realized the same beauty in two different but unified worlds: the arts and the sciences. Over time, this union has dissolved into the arts or the sciences. Grab your seat at Café Paradiso and watch Dante and Einstein meet for the first time in this webinar! Participate in a conversation that renews the vows between beauty, art, poetry, science, and mathematics, demonstrating how the humanities and social sciences are a critical component in inspiring curiosity and creativity within the sciences.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Learn new strategies and methodologies that incorporate the sciences and the humanities to inspire a more creative individual.
  • Learn about The Inspirational Six (The-i6), a method we created by studying some of the greatest scientific and artistic minds, Einstein and Dante.
  • Learn how to use each of The-i6 Strategies: Animate, Originate, Rejuvenate, Stimulate, Deus Ex Machina, and to Tell the Story.

Anthony Pitucco, Physics, Mathematics, and Philosophy, Pima Community College (retired)
Anthony (Tony) Pitucco is best known as the creative educator who injected comedy and acting into his physics lectures at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. Tony has been involved in higher education for more than 40 years. He was the chair of the physics and astronomy departments at Pima Community College where he also taught mathematics, philosophy, and humanities. Tony holds several awards, including The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Science Arizona Professor of the Year Award, The Dr. Wayne McGrath Outstanding Faculty Award, and the Pima Community College Outstanding Faculty Award, and was selected in 1994 by USA Today to receive the Teaching Excellence Award Top 50 Professors in the USA. Tony has authored articles that have appeared in various academic journals and NISOD’s Innovation Abstracts. He also co-authored a children’s textbook titled The Restaurant at the Beginning of the Universe. Tony holds a B.S. in Physics, a M.Ed. in Philosophy and Foundations of Education, a M.S. in Mathematics, and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in the area of mathematical physics.

Stewart Barr, Philosophy, Humanities, and Linguistics, Pima Community College (retired)
Stewart Barr’s unique “Mephistophelian” style of teaching attracted hundreds of students with the desire not just to learn, but to think differently during his more than 35 years in higher education. He was the chair of the humanities, philosophy, religion, and speech departments at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. He was awarded the Best of Pima Award, Outstanding Faculty Award, and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Faculty of the Year at Pima Community College Award. In 2006 he was invited to present at the Oxford Roundtable on Religion and the State. He has also worked across curricula to develop interdisciplinary courses such as Bio-Medical Ethics in Biology, Philosophy of Law for Business, and the Philosophical Foundations of Science for Physics. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy with a minor in Comparative Religion, an M.A. in Oriental Studies with a minor in Linguistics, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy.

Please Note:

Only those attending the LIVE webinar will receive a certificate of attendance. Thank you!