Big Ideas Track, The World Science Festival

This proposal requests a grant for 3 consecutive years from the John Templeton Foundation for the production, video capture and expansion of the World Science Festival. WSF is an annual celebration of science—an unparalleled forum designed to engage and educate a diverse audience about humankind’s search for truth. Through its broad spectrum of innovative events, WSF is unique in its emphasis on creating original, multi-media programs that inspire and captivate audiences while exploring some of the most complex of scientific questions. The Big Ideas Track of the Festival includes 7 programs, 7 salons and a distinguished lecture series, On the Shoulders of Giants, that focus on how scientific discoveries intersect with grand questions that span the fields of science, philosophy, and theology. WSF seeks to expand this programming through live and digital offerings, while also undertaking a dedicated study of the programs’ impact through a summative assessment. Outputs: 7 Big Ideas programs per year exploring issues in Quantum Reality, Cosmic Origins, The Mathematical Universe, The Creating Mind, The Code of Life, Man and Machine, and The Nature of Time; 7 WSF Salons per year, extending the discussion of Big Ideas to a targeted audience; 1 annual On the Shoulders of Giants program, in which a leading statesman in science frame their work within the Big Ideas; launch of a Big Ideas Microsite populated with WSF programs and a collection of ancillary materials for on-line exploration; distribution of the programs to universities worldwide via live-streaming, accompanied by a WSF produced local Forum; evaluation of the programs through an impact study. Outcomes: Substantially advancing the Festival’s goal to transform public perceptions of science, demonstrating that scientific insight can profoundly impact how we view ourselves and our place in the cosmic order. Enduring Impact: Fully integrate a scientific perspective into the social, political, and cultural discourse.