Dear y'all, I will be responsible for leading the reading group on black holes, thermodynamics and information. At the first session, there will be no assigned reading, but I do plan to give an introductory, informal presentation of background material I consider necessary for really getting into the material we will be covering this term. I plan to cover the basics of the geometry of Kerr black holes with an emphasis on the idea of a Killing horizon (since that is the essential geometrical structure that leads to Hawking radiation). If you want to do some preparatory reading, I recommend Hawking and Ellis *The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time* ch.9, or Wald *General Relativity* ch. 13. If time permits, I will also cover material that can be found in Wald *Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime and Black Hole Thermodynamics* chs. 4-5. I plan to send out later today a list of papers I propose we read this term. It would be useful if you would look over the list to see what most interests you, so we can settle on a schedule of readings and volunteers to lead discussion for each meeting. Hope to see you there. Yours, Erik -- Erik Curiel Postdoctoral Fellow Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy Lehrstuhl für Wissenschaftstheorie Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Religionswissenschaft Ludwigsstrasse 31 80539 München, Deutschland http://strangebeautiful.com