Wednesday, February 28 – Friday, March 1, 2024
The world is literally and figuratively on fire. Not since the height of the Second World War and the Cold War have ideological oppositions both nationally and internationally been so tense. At this critical moment, the longing to return to a past that was never present is creating political paralysis that makes it impossible to act reasonably and responsibly. Higher education is torn apart and distracted by internal and external conflicts at the precise moment it is needed most. Meanwhile, accelerating technological changes ranging from genetic engineering and synthetic biology to biobots and artificial intelligence are creating new worlds in which human beings will either be radically transformed or become extinct. What role can the arts and humanities play in understanding the past and present and imagining a future that offers hope?
For this three day conference, former students, colleagues, and collaborators gather to discuss this and related questions with Mark C. Taylor, Distinguished Visiting Fellow in UCSB’s Humanities and Social Change Center and Visiting Professor in UCSB’s Department of Religious Studies.
Conference Schedule
Wednesday, February 28
Morning Session (in Social Sciences and Media Studies, 3145)
9:30-9:45 — Welcome and Introductory Remarks
9:45-12:15
- Jeffrey Kosky, “‘So Write About it’: Thinking Puppets and Artificial Intelligence”
- Cole Fishman, “The Possibility of Thinking Beyond Thinking: Post-Hegelian Philosophy as Artificial Intelligence”
- Armand Latreille: “Men and Machines in Factories
Afternoon Session (in Wallis Annenberg Conference Room, Social Sciences and Media Studies, 4315)
1:45-3:45
- Alethea Harnish, “Performing Theory”
- Kimerer LaMothe, “The Dance of Erring”
Keynote Session (in Wallis Annenberg Conference Room, Social Sciences and Media Studies, 4315)
4:00-5:30
- Jack Miles, “A Time to Mourn: Reflections on Mark C. Taylor as a Man of Faith”
5:30-7:00 — Reception
Thursday, February 29
Morning Sessions (in Social Sciences and Media Studies, 3145)
9:30-11:15
- William Little, “Dead Against”
- Jose Marquez, “Mostly Kidding”
11:30-12:30
- Mark C. Taylor, “Humanities After the Human”
Afternoon Session (in Social Sciences and Media Studies, 3145)
1:45-3:45
- Miguel Vatter, “Earth as Home: Towards a Planetary Political Theology”
- Thomas A. Carlson, “Inheriting the Future: World, Time, Diligence”
Keynote Session (in Wallis Annenberg Conference Room, Social Sciences and Media Studies, 4315)
4:00-5:30
- Mark Z. Danielewski, in conversation with Rita Raley and Mark C. Taylor
5:30-7:00 — Reception
Friday, March 1
Morning Session (*** in Humanities and Social Change Center, Robertson Gymnasium 1000A ***)
9:30-12:30
- Joseph Blankholm, “Recovering Poetic World-Making for the Secular Tradition”
- Mark Stapp, “Plato Was Right: Philosophers Should Run the City”
- Priscilla Tucker: “Indoctrinated Twerps: How Elite Universities Taught Truth not Knowledge and Created Trump World and Fake News”
Afternoon Session (in Social Sciences and Media Studies, 3145)
1:45-3:45
- Scott Moringiello, “What Has Alexandria to do with Jena? Agapic and Gnostic Subjectivity in Clement of Alexandria”
- Scott Edward Anderson, “A Philosopher’s Secret Garden: Mark C. Taylor and His Landscape of Ideas”
Keynote Session (in Wallis Annenberg Conference Room, Social Sciences and Media Studies, 4315)
4:00-5:30
- Michael Govan, in conversation with Mark C. Taylor
5:30-7:00 — Reception