Center for Science, Health and Society

The Science Cafe movement started in a pub in the UK in 1998. Since then, cafes have sprung up all over the globe, including at least 50 in the United States. Although the styles and formats are varied, the over-riding principle is that the cafe is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of beer, anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology.  It is a cultural examination of science that is not a lecture, but a conversation.

Generally speaking, the presenter will speak for about 20 minutes before a short break. During the break, you can refill your glass or order some more food and begin discussing the topic amongst yourselves. This is then followed by a 45-60 minute question and answer session, where audience members can ask anything that they like.

Strictly speaking, the Cafe is not a seminar, but rather, a discussion.  The speaker will give a short presentation, but the majority of the evening will be spent in discourse between the speaker and the audience members. 

Currently, we hold our Science Cafe on the second Tuesday of every other month.  Our next cafe will be on March 11th, 2008, at 6:30 PM and at a to be announced location.

The Science Cafe is open to everyone who has an interest or wants to know more about the topics that are discussed.  It does not matter if you come from a scientific background or not.  If you are a curious person and enjoy learning and discussing new things, than the Cafe is the place for you.

Absolutely!  In fact, we encourage you to either come early or stay late to eat dinner as a thank you to our hosts.  Please feel free to order drinks to enjoy during the presentation and the question and answer session as well.

The actual presentation time along with the question and answer session will make for about a 90 minute evening.  However, we certainly encourage you to stay afterwards and continue to discuss what you have learned.

Yes, there will be ample time for you to ask a question and we encourage you to do so!  Once the presentation has concluded, there will be a short break in which you can formulate your question or even begin to discuss the topic with your fellow attendees.  Following the break, there will be 45 to 60 minutes of question and answer time with the presenter.  You may ask a question that directly relates to the presentation, or something else entirely about his/her field of expertise.

Our primary focus will be on medical and health related issues. Because health and science issues touch everyone, we envision holding Cafes for many years to come. We are excited to be able to utilize health care professionals affiliated with the Medical College of Wisconsin, which affords us a very wide range of topics.

Yes, you will have the chance to interact with the presenters before, during, or after the Cafe.  We encourage our speakers to stay past the official end time in order to more fully interact with everyone.

There is no ticket to buy because admission to the Cafe is absolutely FREE!  However, because we need to communicate a count to our hosts for planning purposes, we do ask that you register so we know how many people are coming.

The Cafe is open to everyone so you indeed can bring friends.  Please let us know how many people will be attending with you when you register your place.  We also do ask that you pass the word along to family, friends, or anyone whom you think might be interested in our Cafe.

We welcome any suggestions that you have for a future topic.  Please fill out this form and let us know what you would like to know more about!