March 21, 2019
By Michael Bruckler
Gili Freedman, assistant professor of psychology, published the article “Obituaries can Popularize Science and Health: Stephen Hawking and Interest in Cosmology and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis” in Psychology of Popular Media Culture.
Freedman’s research examines the influence of physicist Stephen Hawking’s death on public interest in science topics related to his work. She also examines whether the representation of male versus female physicists quoted in the obituary increased perceptions of gender equity in science. The present research shows the influence of obituaries on public attention, as well as the outsized influence that Hawking has had on public interest in science, even in death.
