By SARA GIBONEY
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – “Revolution: Historical and Psychological Perspectives” is the topic of the Science Café hosted by the Sigma Xi Chapter at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
UNK psychology professor Rick Miller and UNK associate professor of history Doug Biggs will explore the conditions necessary for a revolution to occur.
The event, free and open to the public, is at 5:30 p.m. Monday (Nov. 11) at Kearney’s Cunningham’s Journal, 15 W. 23rd St.
“We’re taking science out into the community,” Miller said. “We’re inviting people who aren’t typically on campus to learn about science.”
Miller and Biggs will discuss human behavior during a revolution, and the consequences of revolution for individuals and society from a historical and psychological perspective.
“Historically, we see situations where people are downtrodden and poor. That tends to be the catalyst for revolution,” Miller said. “But, there are a lot of downtrodden areas that never revolt. We need to look at the psychological theory to understand revolution.”
The French and Russian revolutions and the Arab Spring will be examined.
“One of the things we’ll be talking about is the Arab Spring, which is something that is happening in our time. We’ve been trying to make sense of it. We’ll be relating the Arab Spring to previous revolutions,” Miller said.
Sigma Xi is chartered by the Sigma Xi Society, a nonprofit membership society of scientists and engineers whose research spans the spectrum of science and technology.
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Source: Rick Miller, 308.865.8239, millerrl@unk.edu
Writer: Sara Giboney, 308.865.8529, giboneys2@unk.edu
