When Ideology Trumps Science

CORVALLIS, Ore. –  Why are some citizens in developed countries such as the United States less trusting of science, expert scientific consensus and government? Why are they, instead, prioritizing their ideological values? At the February 10 Science Pub Corvallis, Erika Wolters and Brent Steel, professors in the OSU School of Public Policy, will examine these questions.

Wolters and Steel will explore how proponents of scientific findings and the scientists responsible for conducting and communicating research to decision makers are encountering direct challenges to scientific consensus. 

They will use examples from high-stakes policy debates centered on hot-button controversies such as climate change, GMO foods, immunization, stem cell research, abstinence-only education and birth control. Their research identifies ways in which liberals and conservatives have both contested issues of science when consensus diverges from their ideological and value positions. Possible approaches for overcoming the ideology-science divide in policy will also be discussed.

Science Pub is free and open to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. at the Old World Deli, 341 SW 2nd St. in downtown Corvallis. Registration is required and can be done online or by contacting University Events at 541-737-4717 or [email protected].

If registration is closed (fully booked), walk-ins are welcome, but people who arrive without a ticket will not be admitted to the reserved seating area until 6 p.m.

Podcasts of previous Corvallis Science Pub events on topics such as “Technology in the Fields” and “From Wolves to the Warning to Humanity: Facing the Environmental Crisis through Science” are available at http://communications.oregonstate.edu/podcast.

Sponsors of Science Pub include Terra magazine at OSU, the Downtown Corvallis Association and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.