The University of Missouri-Saint Louis kicks off its 17th annual "What is a City?" conference on tomorrow. This year’s two-day conference is all about the relationship between cities and science.
Topics range from how to develop science-based public policy to how to think about a city as an artificial life form.
The Associate Director of the Center for the Humanities at UMSL, Karen Lucas, says she sees Saint Louis as a city at the cutting edge of science research.
"And we’re trying to show that by having speakers from Saint Louis University, Washington University, our own university UMSL, but also Missouri Botanical Garden, the Saint Louis Science Center, and the Saint Louis Zoo," Lucas said.
Lucas says the conference explores the intersections of science, history, philosophy, and literature.
"Walter Isaacson, whose biography of Steve Jobs just came out recently, said 'we are standing at the crossroads of science and the humanities.' And I would say that’s exactly where this conference stands, at that crossroads, not choosing one road or the other, but standing right there and looking both ways," Lucas said.
Registration to the conference is free and open to the public.
