Date: 8 April 2026 at 12pm (California time) On Zoom: https://stanford.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_taPLwiyxRcaeNu5vbSrJag

The LASERs (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) are an international program of evening gatherings that bring artists and scientists together for informal presentations and conversation with an audience. This lunch-time LASER, chaired by cultural historian Piero Scaruffi, will feature this talk:

- Paul Gifford (St Andrews) on "Paul Valery and Poetry" 

The other talks will take place on campus at 7pm. See https://www.lasertalks.com/apr2026.html

Paul Gifford was for ten years Director of the Research Institute of Cultural Identity Studies. He has also taught at the universities of Toulouse (France) and Ulster (N. Ireland). He has conducted research on modern literature and ideas, particularly in relation to the changing scientific, philosophic, religious and cultural context of the period 1870-1945. He is the author of critical studies in French and English of the poet and thinker Paul Valéry, has edited collections of essays on the problems of personal identity (self and subject) and collective identity. He has also written books on the problems of love and desire in twentieth-century French writing; and on textual genetics (the study from author manuscripts of the creative process behind major works of art).

The Stanford LASERs are sponsored by the schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Humanities & Sciences, by Continuing Studies and by Chemical Engineering.

Detailed bios at: https://www.lasertalks.com/

Register here:  https://stanford.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_taPLwiyxRcaeNu5vbSrJag