Where Does It Begin? Saturday, May 5th 4:30 - 6:30PM Past Event Watch the video » Why are we curious about beginnings, whether that of the cosmos or our own? What can we discover from each other’s curiosity about beginnings? What are the organizational properties necessary to call something a beginning? Might similar processes apply to both individual consciousness and the universe at large?… read more »
Where Does It End? Saturday, May 19th 2:30 - 4:30PM Past Event Watch the video » We follow up our inquiry into beginnings by posing complementary questions about endings: why are we curious about endings, whether that of the cosmos or our own? What can we discover from each other’s curiosity about endings? What are the organizational properties necessary to call something an ending?… read more »
What Can Mathematics Teach Us About Mind/Brain? Saturday, September 15th 2:30 - 4:30PM Past Event Watch the video » Philosophy meets mathematics meets neuroscience in this roundtable investigating how cutting-edge mathematical models are elucidating the computational rules encoding brain functions and the implications for a deeper understanding of mind. Free and open to the public.… read more »
Why Do Economists Disagree? Saturday, October 13th 2:30 - 4:30PM Past Event Watch the video » A pre-election roundtable of a politically diverse group of noted economic theorists exploring their philosophical convergences and divergences. Free and open to the public.… read more »
Collaborations: Jazz and Poetry Sunday, October 14th 3:00 - 4:30PM Past Event Watch the video » What is jazz poetry? How can words, inert objects, be used to convey this blues-based, improvisatory, aural form? What is a jazz-related piece of writing? Is it merely “about” jazz, or does it do something more? How do poems respond to jazz in all its musical and cultural overtones?… read more »
Life and Movement Friday, October 26th 7:00 - 9:00PM Past Event Watch the video » How does the study of evolution, coordination dynamics, sports, social interactions, and aesthetics help us understand movement and life? In this roundtable, we will explore: movement and objects as distinctively different “things” to study; coordination dynamics and intrinsic dynamics and tendencies; kinesthesia; the evolution of social coordination; how, in the living company of others, we are both challenged and supported; and the value of nurturing and pursuing a moving life with all its risks and challenges.… read more »
Male-Male Competition: Globalization, War, and Violence Saturday, October 27th 2:30 - 4:30PM Past Event Watch the video » Little attention is paid to the fact that in his book, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, Darwin devoted twelve chapters to male-male competition (describing it as “the law of battle”), detailing intra-species male morphological and behavioral differences from molluscs through mammals, arriving finally and specifically at human mammals.… read more »
Animal Language Saturday, November 17th 2:30 - 4:30PM Past Event Watch the video » The animal kingdom has evolved multiple adaptive strategies for the efficient transmission of information, one way of defining language. In this roundtable, led by experts in fields ranging from the communication in dolphins, monkeys, and whales to speech recognition technology, we will explore the phonics and sonics of animal communication.… read more »