The Brains Blog

THE NATIONAL HUMANITIES CENTER EXPLORES
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE “HUMAN”
Final Conference with Leading Scientists and Humanists

WHAT:            The National Humanities Center will host the third and final conference that explores how modern scientific developments give more insight into what it means to be “human.” The 2008 “The Human & The Humanities” Conference will bring together philosophers, neurologists, cultural scholars and scientists from various disciplines to discuss the implications of technological advances, and how recent scientific findings alter our understanding of human autonomy, singularity, and creativity. Ultimately, the conversations will focus on how new knowledge is redefining the human experience.

                        The 2008 Autonomy, Singularity and Creativity Conference will feature an opening keynote address by renowned neurologist, Oliver Sacks, M.D. from Columbia University, probably most well known for Awakenings, a 1990 movie based on his work in treating a group of patients with sleep-sickness. Sacks has conducted multiple groundbreaking studies on scientific and social issues surrounding neurology, Tourette’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, and the hearing impaired.

WHO:            The conference will include lectures and panel discussions that feature leading international thinkers, including: Anthony Appiah, Princeton University; Patricia Churchland, UC-San Diego; Michael Gillespie, Duke University; Katherine Hayles, Duke University; David Krakauer, Santa Fe Institute; Jesse Prinz, UNC-Chapel Hill; Peter Railton, University of Michigan; Robert Sapolsky, Stanford University; Raymond Tallis, M.D., Manchester University; Holden Thorp, UNC-Chapel Hill; and Mark Turner, Case Western Reserve University.

WHEN/
WHERE:            November 13 – 15, 2008
                      (See times below detailed with each location)

Thursday, November 13
Kick-off: Oliver Sacks: “Creativity and the Brain”
Introduction by UNC- Chapel Hill’s Chancellor Holden Thorpe
7:00 p.m. at The William and Ida Friday Center – 100 Friday Center Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Friday, November 14
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Panel 1: “The Psychology of Ethics”
Featuring Kwame Anthony Appiah and Michael Gillespie
At the National Humanities Center
7 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

10:45 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Panel 2: “On Deviation from the Human Mean”
Featuring Oliver Sacks and Jesse Prinz
At the National Humanities Center
7 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

12 – 1:30 p.m
Lunch
National Humanities Center
7 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Panel 3: “What’s so Human about Human Nature?”
Featuring Raymond Tallis, Robert Sapolsky (by video) and Peter Mallios
At the North Carolina Biotechnology Center
15 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

3:15 – 5:30 p.m
Panel 4: “Neuroscience, Morality and What Makes us Human?”
Featuring Mark Turner, Patricia Churchland and Peter Railton
At the North Carolina Biotechnology Center
15 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Reception
National Humanities Center
7 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

6:30 p.m.
Dinner
National Humanities Center
7 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

Saturday, November 15
8:15 – 9:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast
National Humanities Center
7 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Panel 1: “Creative Evolution”
Featuring David Krakauer and Katherine Hayles
At the National Humanities Center
7 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Concluding Panel:
“From Analysis to Synthesis: The Human and the Humanities”
Featuring all panelist
At the National Humanities Center
7 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC

CONTACT:      &nb
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For more information, or to RSVP to the event, please contact Martha Johnson at
the National Humanities Center, (919)549-0661;
mjohnson@nationalhumanitiescenter.org