interesting conference.
The Two Cultures:
Reconsidering the division between the Sciences and Humanities
http://nchsr.arts.unsw.edu.au/twocultures.html
21 and 22 July 2005 Venue: Lecture Room A, Webster Building, the University
of NSW
The Two Cultures: Reconsidering the division between the Sciences and
Humanities, will bring scholars together from the sciences (physics,
molecular biology, computation, evolutionary systems) and the humanities,
social sciences and cultural theory whose work has philosophical resonance.
The purpose will be an interrogation and
reassessment of current understandings of the fact/value,
real/representation, nature/culture split. One of thecasualties of “the
linguistic turn” which displaced “natural facts” with “cultural
constructs” is that scientific research that purports to explain natural
facts (without inverted commas) has been difficult to engage. Despite the
rapid changes in technological, medical, and scientific innovation that
demand a serious reconsideration of human identity – what it is and what we
want it to be – intellectual cooperation between the humanities and sciences
over such questions remains desultory. This conference hopes to broaden the
terms of understanding and critical exchange between these research
communities.
Themes
· Biosemiosis: living systems as language systems
· Feminism and Science: a forbidden intimacy?
· Re-Figuring the Representation Question: mathematics, data
and prediction
· Biotechnology and Ethical Futures: where to from here?
Participants include:
· Professor Karen Barad: Women’s Studies and Philosophy, Mount Holyoke
College (theoretical particle physicist, research expertise on Niels Bohr
and
quantum mechanics)
· Professor Jesper Hoffmeyer: Institute of Molecular Biology, University of
Copenhagen (molecular biologist, biosemiotician)
· Associate Professor Thomas Lamarre: East Asian Studies, McGill University,
Montreal (marine biologist, biophilosopher, research expertise on
archaeology of inscription)
· Dr Philippa Uwins: Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Microscopy and
Microanalysis, The University of Queensland (research expertise on
nanobes, origin of life)
· Dr Sha Xin Wei History of Science, Harvard University (mathematics,
cultural theory, art practice)
· Dr. Melinda Cooper: Sociology, Macquarie University (biophilosophy)
· Dr. Vicki Kirby: Sociology and Anthropology, UNSW (semiology,
biophilosophy)
· Dr Catherine Mills: Philosophy, UNSW (biopolitics, biotechnology, ethics)
· Dr Catherine Waldby: Sociology and Anthropology, UNSW (feminism,
biomedicine)
· Dr Elizabeth Wilson: University of Sydney (cognitive psychology and
biophilosophy)
· Dr Heather Worth: Deputy Director, National Centre in HIV Research,
UNSW
Cost: $150/$75 students
Registrations: Email Rodney McDonald at rodney.mcdonald@unsw.edu.au;
include: Name; email address;
organisation; postal address and contact phone number
Proudly Supported by: The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; UNSW
More information can be found at the website:
http://nchsr.arts.unsw.edu.au/twocultures.html
