Upcoming Conferences 2008-2009:
Conferences 2007-2008:
March 22, 2008 from 10:00am-5:30pm
Free parking on the East Campus Quad on Campus Dr.
After the bus stop, look for the reserved parking sign.
"Vitalism Revisited: History, Philosophy, Biology"
Saturday - March 22, 2008
10:00am - 5:30pm
Auditorium, Richard White Lecture Hall, East Campus
A symposium sponsored by
The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Science and Cultural Theory
Duke University
Guest speakers:
Stefan Helmreich, MIT; author, Silicon Second Nature:
Culturing Artificial Life in a Digital World (1998)
Joan Steigerwald, York U, Canada; author, "Instruments of Judgment:
Inscribing Organic Processes in Late 18th-Century Germany" (2002)
Susan Oyama, Emerita, CUNY; author, Evolution's Eye:
A Systems View of the Biology-Culture Divide (2000)
Participants from Duke University:
Robert Brandon, Philosophy and Biology; Güven Güzeldere, Philosophy
and Cognitive Neuroscience; Timothy Lenoir, History, Literature, and
New Technologies & Society; Daniel McShea, Biology and Philosophy;
Robert Mitchell, English; Thomas Pfau, English and German;
Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Literature and English
Co-sponsored by the Franklin Humanities Institute;
the English Department; and the Program in the History and
Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine
Schedule of Events:
10:00am
Welcome: Barbara Herrnstein Smith, Director, CISSCT
Opening Remarks: Robert Mitchell
10:15 - 11:30am: Session I
Stefan Helmreich, "Life Forms at Three Extremes”
Comment: Tim Lenoir
Open Discussion
11:45 - 1:00pm: Session II
Joan Steigerwald, “Figuring the Organism in late 18th Century Germany:
From Vital Forces to Instrumental Languages”
Comment: Robert Mitchell
Open Discussion
2:30 - 3:45pm: Session III
Susan Oyama, “Biologists Behaving Badly: Vitalism and the Language of Language”
Comment: Daniel McShea
Open Discussion
4:00 - 5:30pm: Session IV
Round Table
Moderator: Barbara Herrnstein Smith
Robert Brandon
Güven Güzeldere
Thomas Pfau
There will be coffee breaks between sessions and a reception following the symposium.
Friday, February 29, 2008 at 4:00pm
Free parking on the East Campus Quad on Campus Dr. from
3:00pm-8:30pm.
After the bus stop, look for the parking officer and the sign.
A mini-symposium entitled,
“Global Culture Industry and New Media”
In the Upper East Side, East Union Building on East Campus
Speakers are Celia Lury and Scott Lash, professors at Goldsmith College (University of London)
Scott Lash will talk about "China Culture Industry: In Search of the Universal"
Celia Lury will talk about " Thinking Topologically About Culture"
Before the lectures, come to an ISIS (Information Science + Information Studies) Lunchtime event
A Conversation about Global Culture Industry with Scott Lash and
Celia Lury
Friday, February 29
12:00-2:00pm
John Hope Franklin Center, Room 240
Lunch will be provided
Past Conferences