CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - How to find where you are and how your friends influence how you got there are the topics of two upcoming Center for Advanced Study/MillerComm lectures. The lecture series - a tradition since 1973 at the University of Illinois - is supported by the George A. Miller Endowment, along with many other campus units.
On Thursday (Oct. 13), Michael F. Goodchild will speak on "Critical Spatial Thinking and the Future of Geographic Information Technologies," including the role of spatial concepts in guiding the design of user interfaces and improvements that will enable the next generation of GIS (geographic information systems) technology.
Goodchild, considered the father of geographic information science, is the director of the Center for Spatial Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he is also the chair of the geography department. He has received numerous awards, including the Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Medal in 2003 and the Prix Vautrin Lud (often called the Nobel Prize for geography) in 2007. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Goodchild's talk is to begin at 4 p.m. in the Knight Auditorium of the Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana.
On Monday (Oct. 17), Dr. Nicholas A. Christakis will speak on "Human Social Networks in Real and Evolutionary Time." Christakis, an internist and social scientist, is a co-author of "Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives" - a book that The New York Times described as "in a category of works of brilliant originality that can stimulate and enlighten and can sometimes even change the way we understand the world." He is a professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School.
His talk is to begin at 8 p.m. in the ballroom of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.
Both events are free and open to the public.
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