Physics major Antonio Màntica ’15 had the opportunity to deliver public lectures within his field of study, as part of the Oglethorpe University Museum of Art’s 2015 spring exhibition Time is an Illusion: Revisiting Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, showcasing an original handwritten Einstein manuscript owned by the university. Antonio was selected by Elizabeth Peterson, OUMA’s director, to speak about the exhibit and share his academic and personal expertise on the subject.

Antonio, who is active in Oglethorpe theatre, presented the lecture “A Tour Through Time,” which also was a featured event in the city-wide Atlanta Science Festival. Antonio walked his audience through the history of various cultures’ perceptions of time—highlighting specific cultures and points in history that contributed to our current understanding of time. He also illustrated our modern conception of how time passes and what it means to measure it, and explored what we do not understand about it. “Einstein revolutionized how we picture time,” said Antonio, “and my lecture aimed to describe the history and the concepts of his ideas to the audience.”

“Only at Oglethorpe could a student have an experience like this,” said Antonio, who was excited to have the chance to speak about his hero, Einstein. “Before the lecture, Elizabeth Peterson said to me: ‘I love working at a place where this is possible.’  At Oglethorpe, students have these amazing opportunities to present academic studies in a professional setting, and that is invaluable.”