Campus & Community

Syracuse University is contributor to Discovery Communications upcoming ‘CURIOSITY’ project

Tuesday, October 13, 2009, By Kelly Homan Rodoski

Syracuse University faculty are engaging with Discovery Communications in the development of a landmark, 60-episode television series that will explore the fundamental questions and underlying mysteries of our time.

“CURIOSITY: The Questions of Our Life” will air on the Discovery Channel on Sunday nights beginning in January 2011. The series will delve into fields such as space, biology, geology, medicine, physics, technology, nature, archaeology, history and the human mind. The five-year, multi-million-dollar, multi-platform project will address 12 questions over 12 one-hour episodes each year. Potential subjects to be explored include “What is consciousness?” and “What is our universe made of, and why?”

The project is spearheaded by John S. Hendricks, founder and chairman of Discovery Communications. Hendricks will speak at SU on “Modern Media and the Journey of Discovery” as part of the University Lectures series on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

On the “CURIOSITY” series, faculty members from SU and other selected institutions are assisting in formulating the fundamental questions to be addressed and identifying experts to appear on camera, and assisting with the lifelong learning components of the project.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for Syracuse University,” says SU Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric F. Spina. “Members of our faculty will contribute to framing the great questions to be addressed by the ‘CURIOSITY’ series and, perhaps, appear in the series as content experts. The visibility of the series will bring increased visibility to our faculty and to SU. We’re excited to collaborate with Discovery Communications on this project and grateful to John Hendricks for the opportunity.”

Other academic institutions involved with the project include Princeton University, Georgetown University, the University of Maryland, the University of Virginia and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

Along with the television series, “CURIOSITY” will include a companion initiative in K-12 schools to drive engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education nationwide. It will also feature lifelong learning programming for adults, including online content to accompany each episode and related learning retreats with experts featured in the series.