Department of Government
University College Cork
Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh, Éire
ETHOS Project
Presents
Science, Complexity, and the Ethics of Global
Governance
Public lectures
exploring the cutting edge of science and social thought
.
26-28 February 2004
All Are Welcome
021-490-3472
ETHOS
Schedule of
Speakers
Thursday Feb. 26
O’Rahilly Building 2.55
9:30
a.m.
Dr. Linda Dennard: The Ethos of ETHOS:
Participating in the Emergence of Global Political Culture
11:15 a.m.
Dr. Vessela Misheva: A Public Sphere for a Global Society
12:15 p.m.
Mr. Arnold Smith: Towards an Open Hearted
Society
4:30 p.m.
Dr. Wolfgang Hofkirchner: The Great Bifurcation:
Information & the Emerging Global Environment
Friday Feb. 27
Council Room North Wing
9:15 a.m.
Dr. Christian Fuchs: Self-organising of the
political system in a globalising world.
10:00 a.m.
Dr. Gottfried Mayer-Kress: Instabilities in
Democratic Systems: Complex Self-organisation in Iraq and the U.S.
2 :15 p.m.
Aras na Laoi 10
JB
Ruhl JD.: Thinking of Law as a Complex Adaptive System
4:00 p.m.
O’Rahilly 1.23
Dr. Fred Abraham & Ms. Priscilla Magdamo: Self-control and social parameters:
Folktales & neuroscience
7:00 p.m.
Staff Common Room
Dr.
David Peat:
The Resurrection of Spirit:
Reanimating the Social & Political World.
(Reception prior at 6:00 p.m.)
Saturday Feb.
28
11:30 a.m.
in O’Rahilly 2.12
Mr. Marin Lessinski Global
Government & the EU.
ETHOS Speakers
Dr. F. David Peat
As
a physicist and leading futurist, Dr. Peat has initiated many of the public
conversations about the meaning of science and society for several decades. He
has been a collaborator with David Bohm, John Briggs, and others. His most
current book is From Certainty to Uncertainty: The Story of Science and the
Ideas of the 20th Century. He is the co-founder of the Pari Centre
for New Learning in Italy. www.fdavidpeat.com
Dr. Vessela Ivanova Misheva
Dr.
Misheva is a prominent scholar and teacher in the area of philosophy of science
currently in residence at Uppsala University in Sweden. She is vice-president of the Research
Committee on Sociocybernetics and Systems Theory of the International
Sociologial Association. http://linux.soc.uu.se/staff/vessela_m.html
Dr. JB Ruhl
As
co-founder of the Society for Evolutionary Analysis in the Law (SEAL) Dr. Ruhl
has done groundbreaking research into application of the emerging sciences of
complexity to law and in particular to the environmental law policy
environment. He is widely published in law journals on the subject and is
currently the Mathews & Hawkins Professor of Property at Florida State
University College of Law
Dr. Fred Abraham
A
pioneer in the application of complexity science to the field of
neuropsychiatry and human behaviour, Dr. Abraham is co-founder of the
international Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences and
is co-author of several landmark texts in the field as well as a recognised
futurist. He is founder and
director of the Blueberry Brain Institute in Vermont. www.blueberry-brain.org
Dr. Gottfried Mayer
Dr. Mayer-Kress is founding editor of Complexity Digest and pioneer in complexity
mathematics as applied to social learning. He has served as a fellow for a number of European and
American research institutes including The Centre for Nonlinear Studies at Los
Alamos and the Santa Fe Institute.
www.comdig.org
Dr. Wolfgang Hofkirchner
With degrees in political science and psychology, Dr.
Hofkirchner is professor of technology assessment at the Vienna University of
Technology and heads the Unified Theory of Information (UTI) research group.
Recent research includes “On the Genesis of Information Structures,” and “Human
Strategies in Complexity: Philosophical Foundations of a Theory of Evolutionary
Systems.” http://www.uti.at
Mr. Marin Lessenski
Mr. Lessenski is currently Program
Director and policy analyst for the influential Institute for Regional &
International Studies (IRIS) in Sophia, Bulgaria. His areas of research include international security,
transatlantic relations, identity politics, and interethnic relations. IRIS
develops & implements civic strategies for democratic politics. www.iris-bg.org
Ms. Priscilla Magdamo
Ms.
Magdamo is a Grammy award-winning musician who also has received honours for her
work in preserving the cultural diversity of the Philippines. She collects and
performs folk tales which illustrate the dynamics of social relationships and
the emergence of culture.
THE ETHOS PROJECT
Those
scholars offering public lectures are visiting UCC for a planning workshop as
participants in a proposed EU FP6 project coordinated by the Department of
Government’s Political Evolution Research Group (PERG). The Project entitled
ETHOS (ethically evolving political systems) employs complexity principles and
methodologies to address issues related to global governance – in particular
the emergence of ethical political cultures. Composed of 26 partners from 11 countries,
ETHOS will be submitting a proposal for a major research effort this year. We
wish to thank Enterprise Ireland for making this event possible in their support of
FP6 projects.
Changing Politics
&
Changing Science
The complexity of 21st century politics can be understood as
an indicator of social evolution. How global government evolves in this
complexity as a humane, democratic, and effective participant requires new
tools for analysis as well as new understanding of how government affects the development
of civic culture. Because complexity science encourages consideration of the
relationship among all actors in a political system, the emergence of political
culture over generations, as well as the processes of adaptation and change
that are at the heart of the human experience, it provides an innovative
framework for considering the future of global governance and the evolution of
an ethical and sustainable political culture
ETHOS Speakers (continued)
Mr. Arnold Smith
An information technology expert for the National Research Council of
Canada, Mr. Smith is prominent in the development of alternative strategies for
social design including ethical roles for business in the emergence of
political culture. He is currently an associate of the Pari Learning Centre in
Italy.
Dr.
Christian Fuchs
A member of the Unified Theory of Information (UTI) research group at
Vienna University of Technology, Dr. Fuchs is an expert in the field of social
systems theory, media theory, and the sociology of technology. www.uti.at
Dr. Linda F. Dennard
Dr. Dennard has been involved in the conversation around the new
sciences of complexity for over a decade. She is co-author. of a pioneering
text on public policy and the new science and has developed and implemented
several innovative programmes in the public service using complexity principles
to address the development of sustainable community. She is currently director
of the Political Evolution Research Group within the Department of Government
at UCC. http://www.ucc.ie/acad/govt/