Polymathic Pizza: Wonder ~ Where It Can Take You

Oct 5 2023
When: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Where: Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241
Event Type: Polymathic Pizza
RSVP Required
RSVP Code: PIZZA1005
RSVP By: Wed, 10/04/2023

Event Details

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.  ~ Socrates

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.  ~ Albert Einstein

It is said that Leonardo once stared for hours upon hours in wonder at the wings of dragonflies. Galileo wrote, "What exceeds all wonders, I have discovered four new planets and observed their proper and particular motions, different among themselves and from the motions of all the other stars." 

Wonder kept the attention of these two great polymaths ~ on a scale from the minutest to the celestial ~ with unimaginable results. For this special Trojan Family Weekend event, we will explore together wonder's potential to inspire and create.

Speaker Information

Speaker
neda maghsoodi

Neda Maghsoodi

WiSE Gabilan Assistant Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

Ameneh (Neda) Maghsoodi joined USC as a WiSE Gabilan Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in January 2023. Maghsoodi works at the intersection of mechanical engineering, biology and material science, and she’s equally committed to creating a culture of human flourishing. Neda pursued her postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (2021-2022) and Harvard University, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (2019-2020). She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (2019) and M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering (2017) from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. 

Richard Lemarchand

Richard Lemarchand

Associate Professor of Cinematic Arts and award-winning game designer

Lead designer on the critical and commercial hit series of games Uncharted, from the Sony-owned developer Naughty Dog, Lemarchand has a long history in the commercial games industry. He has been a full-time USC Games professor since 2012, teaching classes in game design, game production, and more. He makes experimental games as part of the USC Game Innovation Lab and his first book, A Playful Production Process: For Game Designers (and Everyone), was released by the MIT Press in 2021.