The UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere has announced its 2013-2014 speaker series — and first up is a lecture on science communications.

The nine-month-long series, titled “‘Civil’” Society? On the Future Prospects of Meaningful Dialogue”, begins Sept. 11 with Yale Law School professor Dan Kahan discussing culture’s influence on how people perceive science communications and what functions science communications can perform in a democratic society.

Kahan, who teaches law and psychology, works with the Cultural Cognition Project to study the effect of group values on perceptions of science communication. He and his fellow scholars have explored public reactions, disagreements and impressions of scientific topics such as climate change and new technologies.

The “Democracy and the Science Communication Environment” lecture will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Smathers Library (East) 1A and is free and open to the public.

For more information, visit http://www.humanities.ufl.edu/calendar-2013-14-Speaker-Series.html.