Speaker's Series - Frank Herbert's Dune - A guide for further study - LibGuides at California State University, Fullerton

Kevin J. Anderson

Every Last Drop - Extracting Water from Fog
In this talk, California State University, Monterey Bay professor Daniel Fernandez will describe an experimental network of fog water collecting devices (known as standard fog collectors) deployed along California's central and northern coastal region. These devices, which are used internationally to measure the quantity of water obtainable from fog, are a part of a National Science Foundation study to examine the role of fog in ecosystem processes and to study trace amounts of mercury compounds that it has been found to carry.

Presented on October 10, 2015

The Road to Arrakis: Dune and a Sustainable Future
Dr. John Bock teaches Evolutionary Anthropology at California State University, Fullerton’s Division of Anthropology. In 1995, he earned his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico. Bock is Associate Editor of Evolution and Human Nature , the official journal of the Evolutionary Anthropology Society and the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. His major focus is on the interface of biology and culture, using a theoretical perspective grounded in a branch of evolutionary ecology called life history theory. He has conducted extensive research on issues in Botswana and New Mexico.

Presented on October 20, 2015

Ecology of Scarcity: Conflicts in ‘Dune’ Mirror Conflicts over Climate Change - Dr. Carol Chaffee
At its core, ecology is the study of the abundance and distribution of organisms. Conservation ecology is especially focused on the factors and processes that influence these two characteristics for species that are particularly rare. In many ways, Dune illustrates key issues that are important in conservation ecology, such as complex interactions between organisms, critical habitat, human impacts on critical habitats, and competition for scarce resources. The conflicts at the heart of Dune mirror many of the conflicts that climate change presents today. The conflicts on Arrakis over scarce resources and competing priorities can therefore serve as means for starting conversations about these issues in a way that discussion of issues here on Earth cannot.
The Politics of Dune - Dr. Matthew Jarvis
When politics is imagined, commonly we get stories like House of Cards or The West Wing. In science fiction, we see palace intrigue in Battlestar Galactica or a utopian lack of politics in Star Trek. When there is politics, as in Dune, it makes life worse for most involved. In reality, politics is like Veep or Dave: people just go to work trying to do their part, and a political office is little different from any office.