Jun 9
Comic-Con Museum San Diego, CA
TicketsLaine D'Augustine
Assistant Chief Engineer, Naval Integration and Operations, MITRE Corporation
andElizabeth Pollard
Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence, San Diego State University
andElizabeth Rega, Ph.D.
Associate Vice Provost and Professor of Anatomy, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences
The Addams Family (2019)— Are the Addams Family Secretly STEM Professionals?
Program Description
They’re creepy and they’re kooky, but the Addams family are also geniuses when it comes to engineering, botany, and other STEM fields. Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, and Pugsley use their expertise to torture each other and their neighbors, but that doesn’t make their skills any less impressive. Our own panel of experts will weigh in on the plants, animals, explosives, and medieval torture devices the Addams family have mastered for their mysterious and spooky lifestyle. This event includes audience Q&A and will be followed by a screening of the 2019 animated film The Addams Family at 3pm. Come early to view Comic-Con Museum’s new exhibit (opening earlier that day) Chas Addams: Family and Friends, with art from the original comics.
Film Synopsis
The Addams family face-off against a crafty reality-TV host while also preparing for their extended family to arrive for a major celebration.
Members of the mysterious and spooky Addams Family -- Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, Wednesday, Uncle Fester and Grandma -- are readily preparing for a visit from their even creepier relatives. But trouble soon arises when shady TV personality Margaux Needler realizes that the Addams' eerie hilltop mansion is standing in the way of her dream to sell all the houses in the neighborhood.
Photo credit: MGM
About the Speaker
Laine D'Augustine is the Assistant Chief Engineer for the Naval Integration and Operations department at The MITRE Corporation, where she primarily focuses on drone safety and airspace integration. She is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Western Region Deputy Director for Technical Activities. Most of the time she would rather be cycling. She’s a huge fan of Star Trek, The Expanse, Murderbot, For All Mankind, her two ridiculous cats, and punk rock.
Elizabeth Pollard is Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence at San Diego State University, where she has been teaching courses in Roman History, World History, witchcraft studies, and (more recently) comics, since 2002. Pollard is founding co-Director of SDSU’s Center for Comics Studies. With grants from the NEH, Pollard led efforts to develop SDSU’s comics curriculum (and comics certificate), as well as an Institute for K-12 Teachers, on Using Comics to Teach Social Justice. Pollard is currently working on two comics-related projects: an analysis of comics about ancient Rome over the last century and a graphic history on ancient witches.
Dr. Elizabeth Rega is Associate Vice Provost and Professor of Anatomy at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at Western University of Health Sciences. Her specialization in teaching morphology to medical students has led her to be a frequent consultant to the film, animation, and game industry, including Walt Disney Feature Animation, Dreamworks Animation, SONY Pictures Imageworks, and EA Sports.