The SCSU Society of Physics Enthusiasts
The Southern Connecticut State University Society of Physics Enthusiasts (SoPE!) is a student-led organization dedicated to questioning the natural world and promoting understanding of the physical universe. To that end, SoPE events encourage creative theoretical and experimental explorations within a setting conducive to good-humored social interaction among those interested in any of the sciences. SoPE is a chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS), the national undergraduate physics organization whose parent organization is the American Institute of Physics (AIP). Please check postings in the Physics Department (Jennings Hall Room 108) or on our web site for the next meeting.
Since its founding in 1996, SoPE has staged a great variety of events. In addition to regular business meetings and guest speakers, SoPE has traveled to science museums, toured research facilities at other universities, hosted carnival-style fun physics demonstrations, judged and mentored school science fairs, united with other SCSU student clubs for tutoring, study groups, volleyball, kickball, football, bowling, billiards, and held movie nights where movies are shown focusing on physics, the universe, mathematics and comedy, including What the Bleep Do We Know, Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy, A Beautiful Mind, Weird Science, Cosmos, and many more. Our fundraising is supported by bake sales that are held on campus and raised over $1300 in some years. SoPE plays a central role in conducting the Physics Department Open House, where prospective students meet faculty, students, & alumni; tour SCSU research facilities, observe both subtle and dramatic physics demonstrations, and enjoy yummy snacks. SoPE is also a past host of the SPS New England Regional conference, where students from fifteen or more different universities came together to share interests and interact with internationally renowned physicists, Michio Kaku and S. James Gates, who gave compelling and entertaining talks on their inspirational research.
SoPE seeks to create a friendly context for the exchange of any questions, answers, and/or theories that may lead to a better scientific understanding of everything from common practicalities to the cosmos as a whole. The group also seeks evidence to support conclusions through formal experimentation in the SCSU laboratories. Many of our members publish their original research in national journals and display their findings at conferences held by professional and academic organizations.
Please join us and help write the next chapter of SoPE history here at Southern! Never taken a Physics course? No problem. Your current level of study is utterly unimportant. As long as you're interested in how stuff works, then you're interested in physics! Absolutely any topic is fair game for discussion. Remember, physics is all-encompassing! Hope to see you soon! Click here to get on our e-mailing list