Schedule

Friday, November 10, 2023

3:30 p.m. Registration

Fayerweather, Beckham Hall

4:00 p.m. Welcome Address

Chapel
Michael S. Roth ’78
President, Wesleyan University

4:30 p.m. Keynote Address

Chapel
Consciousness in Place
Brenda Laurel, PhD
Interaction Designer

Our capacity for awareness moves with us when we traverse spaces. A space may become a “place” when we attend to it. What constitutes a sense of place? How does place co-create identity? How are we affected when a place changes or disappears? How is a place affected when those who made it change or disappear? Is the experience of embodied presence in a place an aspect of consciousness? Through stories and scientific inquires, this talk will take a brief journey through some of the ways that “place” shapes consciousness with sensation, cognition, emotion, memory, imagination, and action.

6:00 p.m. Reception

Zelnick Pavilion

6:30 p.m. Dinner

Fayerweather, Beckham Hall


Saturday, November 11, 2023

8:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast

Fayerweather, Beckham Hall

9:00 a.m. First Session 

Memorial Chapel
The Search to Expand Horizons of Awareness / Invention and Progress / Agency

  • Joseph J. Fins ’82, Hon. ’22, MD and Medical Ethicist
  • Martha Gilmore, Planetary Geologist – World’s Expert on Venus
  • Steve Horst, Philosopher of Mind and Cognitive Science                        
  • Charles R. Sperry, Inventor


10:15 a.m. Break

Zelnick Pavilion

10:30 a.m. Second Session

Memorial Chapel
Authorship and Legacy / Bias and Discrimination in Design / Justice / Sustainability

  • Amber Frid-Jimenez ’97, Artist
  • Brenda Laurel, Interaction Designer
  • Nathan Rich ’02, Architect and Principal at Peterson Rich Office
  • Rashida Richardson ’08, Attorney – Social and Civil Rights Implications of AI


12:00 p.m. Lunch

Fayerweather, Beckham Hall

1:30 p.m. Third Session

Memorial Chapel
Creativity and Imagination / The Invention of Identity / Considering Human Rights

  • Jeanine Basinger, Film Historian
  • Jim Cavallaro, Human Rights Lawyer
  • Hong Qu ’99, Engineer – Media, Science, Technology, Data
  • Chris Weaver MALS’75, CAS’76, Computer Scientist and Game Inventor


2:45 p.m. Break

Zelnick Pavilion

3:00 p.m. Fourth Session

Memorial Chapel
Policy / Productivity / Economics / Oversight

  • Michael Bennet ’87, Hon. ’12, P’27, US Senator from Colorado
  • Paul Erickson, Intellectual Historian
  • Christiaan Hogendorn, Economist
  • Jacob Ward ’96, On-Air Correspondent for NBC News


4:15 p.m. Book Sale and Refreshments

Zelnick Pavilion
A selection of books by seminar participants will be available for sale.