Alberto Cairo, journalist, designer, the Knight Chair in Visual Journalism at the School of Communication of the University of Miami, will discuss how charts deceive us. Charts lie in a variety of ways — displaying incomplete or inaccurate data, suggesting misleading patterns, and concealing uncertainty — or are frequently misunderstood. Many of us are ill-equipped to interpret the visuals that politicians, journalists, advertisers, and even our employers present each day. Cairo uses concrete examples to equip you with a solid understanding of “graphicacy,” the term he uses to refer to visual literacy. He believes a literate, numerate, and graphicate citizenry is key to approaching the world with interest, appreciation, and care. Cairo is the author of several books and director of the visualization program at UM’s Center for Computational Science.

The Odyssey Bookshop will have books for sale and a signing will follow the event.

This event is part of the LITS speaker series on information and technology issues affecting society at large.