Programs look at Harry Potter, science and medicine

August 30, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida’s Health Science Center Library is hosting “Harry Potter’s World: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine,” a traveling exhibit from the National Library of Medicine through Oct. 6.

Accompanying the exhibit will be a speaker and film series featuring presentations by faculty from UF and elsewhere.

Events will take place in the Communicore building, the Smathers Library, and the Research, Education, and Visualization Environment, all on campus. All events are free and open to the public. Please see the exhibit website for locations and times: http://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/harrypotter.

Schedule of events:

• Grand opening (Sept. 6): Enjoy science demonstrations by the Cade Museum for Creativity and Innovation, dress as your favorite Harry Potter character, and participate in other fun activities.

• Film screening: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (Sept. 7), with an introduction by faculty of the Digital Worlds Institute.

• Representations of Race and Ethnicity in Rowling’s Harry Potter Novels (Sept. 13): Giselle Anatol, associate professor of English at the University of Kansas, will discuss what depictions of race and ethnicity in the Harry Potter books say about Rowling’s desires for contemporary multiculturalism and race relations in London and the larger nation.

• “Literary Alchemy: The Secret Magic Formula of Harry Potter and Today’s Best-Selling Books” (Sept. 19): John Granger, sometimes called “Dean of Harry Potter Scholars,” will discuss the literary alchemy of the Harry Potter books and their impact on other contemporary young adult literature.

• Modern Magic: Genetics in Medicine (Sept. 25): This panel will highlight the “magic” of modern medical advances in genetic medicine, featuring a variety of UF professors including Julie Johnson (pharmacy), Connie Mulligan (anthropology), Alfred Lewin (molecular genetics and microbiology) and Steve Ghivizzani (orthopaedics and rehabilitation).

• Curses, Crimes and Covenants: The Law and Harry Potter (Sept. 27): Danaya Wright, UF professor of law, will discuss the law and the absence of law in the magical world of Harry Potter.

• Harry Potter Magic at the Public Library (Sept. 30): The exhibit will travel to the Alachua County Public Library for one day, with a reprise of science demonstrations by the Cade Museum for Creativity and Innovation.

• Potions and Herbs (Oct. 2): Paul Doering, distinguished professor emeritus, from the College of Pharmacy, will discuss herbs and their use in medicines based on the herbs and potions used in the Harry Potter series.

• “Understanding Genetics: With a Little Help from Harry Potter and Friends” (Oct. 3): Martha Driessnack, assistant professor of nursing at the University of Iowa, will describe how she uses characters and stories from the Harry Potter series to walk patients through complex genetic concepts, including patterns of inheritance, variable expressivity, incomplete penetrance, epigenetics and eugenics.

• Film screening: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ (Oct. 26), with an introduction by Steve Noll, UF senior lecturer of history.

• Film screening: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ (October 30), with an introduction by Konstantinos Kapparis, UF associate professor of classics.

The speaker and film series is sponsored by the University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries, the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere with support from the Rothman Fund, the Catalyst Fund, the UF Genetics Institute and the UF Honors College.