Conway, Ark.—The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation will host Alberto Rojo as a Murphy Visiting Writer on Thursday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Reves Recital Hall at Hendrix College. He will read and discuss his work regarding the intersection of language and physics. A reception in Trieschmann Gallery will follow the reading. This event is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required.
“Rojo engages and captivates listeners to bring alive concepts about language and physics in a way you've never experienced. Not a student of science or languages? That’s okay! You'll still be intrigued by Rojo's research and leave wanting to know more,” said Dr. Andres Caro, professor of chemistry and chair of the biochemistry and molecular biology program.
When describing how language and physics intersect, Rojo argues that the two are not oppositional, but rather complementary ways of understanding the world.
“Language imposes bounds for expressing the architecture of an invisible world for which it was not conceived,” Rojo explains. “Poetry and metaphor expand those boundaries and interpolate the continuous, analog space in between the discrete, digital map of language.”
As a passionate science communicator, he has written more than 100 popular science articles and hosted two award-winning science TV shows in Argentina. Rojo, a professor of physics at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, has published extensively in his field, researching geological formation and theoretical condensed matter physics, including a paper co-authored with Nobel physicist Anthony Leggett and a book with mathematician Anthony Bloch. In 2023, Rojo received an honorary degree from the University of Buenos Aires and was recognized by the Argentine Congress for his work.
The Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language were founded in 1978 by a gift from Charles H. Murphy, Jr., former CEO of Murphy Oil Corporation, in memory of his mother Bertie Wilson Murphy. Their mission is to enhance and enrich the study of literature and language at Hendrix College. For more information, visit hendrix-murphy.org.
To learn more about Alberto Rojo’s work and the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation, visit hendrixmurphy.org/rojo.