January 19 Lunch & Learn: Lindy Hop and Lasers

Join us for our ​​​January Lunch & Learn, featuring talks by graduate students in ​Global Studies & Materials! Lunch & Learn is co-sponsored by the Graduate Division, the Graduate Student Association, and the Library. ​Feed your mind and stomach while socializing with grad students from across the campus!

Lunch & Learn
This Edition: ​Lindy Hop and L​asers

​​Friday, ​​January 19
Noon-1 p.m.
Library, Room 1312 (map)
Lunch will be provided
*To help us estimate food, ​please RSVP*
​ ​

Dance Your Way Out (of Political Oppression)

Nazli Azergun
Graduate Student in ​Global Studies

Lindy Hop was invented in the 1920s in the world-famous Savoy Ballroom of Harlem. Taking place in one of the few settings where black and white communities could dance together at the time, Lindy Hop carried robust political potential as it was taking a critical stance against the social and political structures of its day. Nearly nine decades after its invention, Lindy Hop entered into night life scene of Istanbul, Turkey, and immediately brought about a vibrant community of dancers. This talk will track down how Lindy Hoppers from Turkey utilize this initially resistant dance and its culture to assert their critical political stance in the face of increasingly oppressive structures of Turkish politics.

​Photonic Integrated Circuits: Applications of Lasers Beyond Cat Toys

Brandon Isaac
Graduate Student in Materials

The integrated circuit is the driving force behind your computer, cellphone, and almost all of what modern technology is built upon. A similar concept, the photonic integrated circuit, was first conceived almost half a century ago, where the tiny electrons of traditional integrated circuits are replaced by photons, or light. While they are still an area of rapidly growing academic research, commercial applications for photonic integrated circuits have been popping up for the last two decades. In this talk, Brandon will explain what photonic integrated circuits are and what they can bring that traditional integrated circuits or other existing technologies cannot. He will focus on remote detection for driver-less cars, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other sensing applications by highlighting a highly collaborative project between UCSB researchers and industry to create a compact LiDAR photonics integrated circuit.

This event will be moderated by​ ​Jane Faulkner, who is in charge of Outreach and Academic Collaboration at the UCSB Library.

Interested in being a presenter at an upcoming Lunch & Learn? Click here to find out more! If you have any questions about this event or Lunch & Learn in general, please email Shawn Warner-Garcia.