MIT Astrophysics Colloquium: Tuesday, November 30th
at 4:00pm ET via Zoom
New Insights into Black Hole Ecology
Since the detection of the first gravitational wave transient in 2015 there has been a small revolution in our understanding of the mass distribution of black holes. But there are still many unknowns and theory is still struggling to understand how the observed distribution is determined. There are also other windows onto black holes that are showing that the GW transient masses are only have the story. I’ll present the main samples of black holes that are available to us today and in the not-too-distant future. Then describe how theoretical work will allow us to understand what physics is in play in determining the birth and evolution of black holes, their ecology within galaxies and the Universe.
Host: Anna Frebel
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Equity and inclusion seminar: Wednesday, December 1st
at 4:00pm ET via Zoom
Making classrooms Rainbow student inclusive
Assumptions of cisgender and heterosexual normativity in society and academia can lead to students in the LGBTI+ community feeling like they don’t fit in. In this seminar I’ll introduce some of the terminology around rainbow identities and dispel myths. I’ll then lead some brainstorming around what steps we can take as educators and teachers to make LGBTI+ students safe in the learning environment and know they belong and are welcome in academia.