‘Power of context’ makes pub lectures a hit
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‘Power of context’ makes pub lectures a hit

  • 8/23/2011
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    One of Israel’s most prestigious research facilities sends scientists to lecture in the eateries of Rehovot, and it’s standing room only.
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    The Weizmann Institute sends scientists to lecture in Rehovot's pubs, and its standing room only! The Weizmann Institute sends scientists to lecture in Rehovot's pubs, and its standing room only!
     
     
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    The Weizmann Institute is commonly viewed as Israel’s most prestigious research institute in the sciences. But this elite institution is not elitist. Recently it hosted its second evening of “pub lectures” in local bars and restaurants.
    Why were these 34 lectures so popular that there was standing room only? Weizmann President Prof. Daniel Zajfman calls it “the power of the context.”
    “You can give lectures in lecture halls, in universities, in schools. And it would always be the same type of people who would come. It so happens that if you change the environment, if you change the context, the lecture will be very different. And the type of people who will be willing to come, will also be very different.”
    Zajfman, an astrophysicist, discussed the possibility of life in other parts of the universe at an Irish bar in Rehovot. Down the block, in the Black Bar and Burger, another researcher talked about how mutations and evolution can one day protect us from cancer.
     
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    Source: MFA
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    Length: 3:27
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    Israel Experience