Symposium
2024 Humanities Symposium will explore “What is Real?”
Headlines ripped from our current times – “The Dangers of AI,” “Don`t go Down that Rabbit Hole”– indicate that modern technologies are amplifying long-standing problems of human perception of what`s real. The stakes couldn`t be higher as false narratives, deep fakes and AI pose devastating risks to our intimate lives, societal harmony and international security.
How can we navigate these pitfalls to truly understand our world? From classical times, through Indigenous practices, digital spaces, psychology, and historical fiction and journalism, the 2024 Vanier College Humanities Symposium will explore these ideas, from Feb 5-9.
All presentations are in person in the Auditorium, A-103 and open to the public.
Please consult the complete program for the schedule and descriptions of all the speakers. The following are some of the speakers and events on the program.
On Monday, February 5th, award-winning novelist, poet, and essayist, Michael Crummey will explore fiction whose very nature is to look and feel like the real world. But, where is the truth in it? Michael Crummey will look at that question in his talk: Stealing the Real: Truth and Lies in Fiction.
On Wednesday, February 7th, Keynote Speaker David Robert Grimes, best-selling author of The Irrational Ape/ Good Thinking, will present: Paranoia for the People: the rise of conspiracy theory, disinformation, and propaganda in the 21st century. This talk will delve into why conspiracy theories hold such powerful sway, what renders us susceptible, why such falsehoods are created, and how we can protect ourselves from disinformation in 2024.
Later the same day, a Panel on Nationalism will discuss: Real vs imagined communities. Panelists are:
Daniel Weinstock, Law, Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy in the Faculties of Law and of Arts, McGill will talk about: Language as a Collective Action Problem
Shane O Mara, Experimental Brain Research, Trinity College Dublin, (Zoom), will explore: Let’s Talk: how we use conversation to create our shared worlds
Erin MacLeod, English, Vanier College, will discuss: Learning from Narratives of Nation and Citizenship: The Case of Rastafari and Ethiopia
On Thursday, February 8th, via Zoom, Globe and Mail award-winning journalist and author, Ian Brown, will discuss: Credibility and Trust in Journalism and explore how the role of the journalist is being challenged, while freedom of the press is under attack, AI is infiltrating, revenue is declining and loud voices are shouting, “Fake news!”
On Friday, February 9th, digital artist Sabrina Ratte, will discuss the notions of speculative futures, materiality and virtuality, technologies as projection holders for utopia and dystopia and how our increasingly mediated relationship with reality alters and transforms our perspective of it.