Lucianne Walkowicz

Finding alien life across cosmic distance has challenged the limits of human imagination and technology for millenia. In this course, we will look at the fundamental questions that animate the search for life beyond Earth, delve into the scientific methodologies that we use to detect and recognize life, and unpack the sticky social questions of what it means to search for life (and what happens if we succeed!). Students will emerge understanding the many technical approaches to finding alien life, the ways human social values and pressures affect the pursuit of these methods, and an appreciation for the ways in which the search for alien life is intertwined with the study of life on our own planet. Last but not least, this course aims to help students contextualize reports and announcements about discoveries related to the search for life, and ask questions that will enable them to understand the significance of those reports.

Finding alien life across cosmic distance has challenged the limits of human imagination and technology for millenia. In this course, we will look at the fundamental questions that animate the search for life beyond Earth, delve into the scientific methodologies that we use to detect and recognize life, and unpack the sticky social questions of what it means to search for life (and what happens if we succeed!). Students will emerge understanding the many technical approaches to finding alien life, the ways human social values and pressures affect the pursuit of these methods, and an appreciation for the ways in which the search for alien life is intertwined with the study of life on our own planet. Last but not least, this course aims to help students contextualize reports and announcements about discoveries related to the search for life, and ask questions that will enable them to understand the significance of those reports.

Finding alien life across cosmic distance has challenged the limits of human imagination and technology for millenia. In this course, we will look at the fundamental questions that animate the search for life beyond Earth, delve into the scientific methodologies that we use to detect and recognize life, and unpack the sticky social questions of what it means to search for life (and what happens if we succeed!). Students will emerge understanding the many technical approaches to finding alien life, the ways human social values and pressures affect the pursuit of these methods, and an appreciation for the ways in which the search for alien life is intertwined with the study of life on our own planet. Last but not least, this course aims to help students contextualize reports and announcements about discoveries related to the search for life, and ask questions that will enable them to understand the significance of those reports.