Institute for the Study of Political Economy’s Nobel Prize Panel: Tuesday, Dec. 7

December 03, 2021

Freedom of the press … climate change … minimum wage … refugees –  the 2021 Nobel Prizes touch on a number of hotly debated current issues.

The Institute for the Study of Political Economy (ISPE) will present the inaugural Horwitz Nobel Prize Panel on Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 5:30 p.m. in Whitinger Business Building 144. Professors from Ball State University will give short talks on the discoveries and achievements that were honored with 2021 Nobel Prizes. The panel is based on an idea proposed by the late founder of ISPE, Dr. Steven Horwitz.

The Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards given for intellectual achievement in the world and are conferred in six categories: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economics.

Since 1901, the Nobel Prizes have been presented to Nobel Laureates at ceremonies on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. As stipulated in Nobel’s will, the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine and Literature, as well as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, while the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

“ISPE hopes to make the Horwitz Nobel Prize Panel an annual event,” said Todd Nesbit, acting director of ISPE. “We are excited about the cooperation and support we have received from faculty experts across our campus. We hope that the Ball State and Muncie communities will come learn more about the outstanding achievements of this year’s Nobel honorees.”

 

Dr. Jill Coleman (Assoc Dean, College of Sciences and Humanities) will discuss The Nobel Prize in Physics 

This was jointly awarded to Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann “for the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming” (climate science); and Giorgio Parisi “for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales” (examining patterns in materials). Their work is helping to explain and predict complex forces of nature, including expanding understanding of climate change.

 

Dr. Jordan Froese (Assistant Professor of Chemistry) will discuss The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 

This was jointly awarded to Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis” (an easier and environmentally cleaner way to build molecules that can be used to make compounds, including medicines and pesticides).

 

Dr. Derron Bishop (Director, Center for Medical Education) will discuss The Nobel Prize in Physiology / Medicine

This was jointly awarded to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian “for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch” in the human body.

 

Dr. Erik Nesson (Associate Professor of Economics) will discuss The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 

This was jointly awarded to David Card “for his empirical contributions to labour economics”; and Joshua D. Angrist and Guido W. Imbens “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships.” In short, their innovative research designs are aimed at finding credible evidence to answer important policy questions. 

 

Dr. Johnny Sparks (Director, School of Journalism and Strategic Communication) will discuss The Nobel Peace Prize

This was jointly awarded to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”  These journalists from the Philippines (Ressa) and Russia (Muratov) have for freedom of expression in countries where reporters have faced persistent attacks, harassment and even murder. They have also documented how social media is being used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public discourse.

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