Schedule

4:30 – 7:00 p.m. Screening of the movie “The Martian”
7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Performances and lectures

Free delicious Martian treats for the first 100 audience members in attendance!

Admission

Free!

Presenters

Dr. Chris Pak, Editor, The Science Fiction Research Association Review
Rachel Binx, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Prof. K. Maria D. Lane, University of New Mexico
The Bach & Beethoven Ensemble*

* Music from Jean Baptiste Lully's Thésée from the scene "The Descent of Mars," and the music of Galileo's father, Vicenzo Galilei.

Brandi Berry - violin
Kiyoe Matsuura - violin
Katherine Shuldiner - viola da gamba
Anna Steinhoff - viola da gamba

The DHC kicks off its yearlong investigation into the relations among the humanities, arts, and space-sciences with a celebration of The Red Planet.  After a screening of the 2015 movie, “The Martian,” the evening continues with live performances on period instruments of “The Descent of Mars” from Jean Baptiste Lully’s Thésée (1675) as well as music composed by Vicenzo Galilei (Galileo’s father).  Lectures will focus on themes of imperialism, colonialism, and anti-environmentalism in science fiction’s treatment of Mars; how science and art come together when finding ways to visualize telemetry data received from the Mars Curiosity rover; and how the great “canal controversy” of the late-1800s led to claims about Martian landscape, geography, and culture that were tied to geopolitical concerns in colonial Europe and gilded-age America.