David Kirby

Chair | Interdisciplinary Studies Department

Director, Science Technology and Society Program

Areas of Expertise

Science in Entertainment Media

Science's Role in Storytelling

Religious Responses to Science and Technology

Science Communication 

Contact Information

805.756.6361

Email

Website

Program Twitter | Twitter

Biography

David Kirby is chair of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Liberal Arts Department and director of the Science Technology and Society Program. Kirby’s work examines the interactions between science and entertainment media in all its forms including movies, television shows, graphic novels, comic books and video games. His book, “Lab Coats in Hollywood: Science, Scientists and Cinema,” was the first academic study of the interactions between the scientific community and the entertainment industry, specifically the contributions made by scientists who serve as consultants for Hollywood film productions and the subsequent impact these movies had on real world science and technology. His current book project, “Indecent Science: Religion, Science, and Movie Censorship,” will explore how movies served as a battleground over science’s role in influencing morality. 

Education

• Ph.D., University of Maryland at College Park, Molecular Evolutionary Genetics
• B.S., University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Ecology, Ethology and Evolution

In the News

• “Television Review: A New Wave of Vibrant Science Programs,” Undark magazine
• "How Hollywood Movies And TV Shows Impact Real Science," Discover magazine
• “Forget Darth Vader, Science Fiction’s Greatest Villain Has Always Been the Pandemic,” MEL magazine
• “How the Movie ‘WarGames’ Inspired Ronald Reagan’s Cybersecurity Policies,” MEL magazine 

Recent Publications

• Darwin on the Cutting Room Floor: Evolution, Religion and Film Censorship
• Lab Coats in Hollywood