Peter Wall Institute Faculty Associates Forums

Between Rules and Practice: Practical Wisdom in Constitutional Democracies

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 08:28:07 -0700

Talk by Maxwell Cameron, Professor of Political Science, and 2011 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

What is the Role for Rules in Social Behavior?

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:06:16 -0800

Talk by Patricia S. Churchland, Professor Emerita, Philosophy, University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, and UBC Cecil and Ida Green Visiting Professor

Art Song - An Endangered Species?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:18:20 -0800

Talk by Rena Sharon, UBC School of Music and 2011 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

In from the Margins: New Foundations for Personhood and Legal Capacity in the 21st Century

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:25:24 -0800

Talk by Timothy Stainton, UBC School of Social Work

The Search for the Beginnings of Wisdom: Agency, Intentionality and Responsibility in Childhood

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:33:15 -0800

Talk by David R. Olson is University Professor Emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto.

Comfortably Numb: Cruise Control for Anesthesia.

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:56:27 -0700

Talk by Guy Dumont, Electrical & Computer Engineering and 2011 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Energy Consumption and the Environmental Impact of the Black Death

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:01:47 -0700

Talk by Richard Unger, History and 2011 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: A Fair Scenario for our Microbial Environment?

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:32:33 -0700

Talk by Dr. Philippe Sansonetti Professor and Chair, Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, College de France, and Professor, Pasteur Institute, Paris, and 2011 Wall Distinguished Visiting Professor

Philippe Sansonetti is one of Europe’s leading microbiologists. His research mainly focuses on the understanding of several aspects of the pathogenesis of Shigella, a Gram-negative bacterium causing severe diarrhea. This work spans a large set of disciplines in biology and medicine and ranges from molecular genetics, to cell biology, immunology and the development of vaccines against dysentery. He also actively contributes to the development of vaccine candidates against the major shigellae causing dysentery in the developing world.

Traversing Clinical Trials

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:35:34 -0700

Talk by John Steeves, ICORD, and 2011 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Everyone is generally familiar with clinical trials, but what is actually involved in the translation of a promising biomedical discovery to human application. It is a long, complex multi-phase process where each phase has a particular goal and unique set of demands. It requires a rigor uncommon to science, which may explain why many scientists wish others take over the pursuit. Above all else, it is incredibly expensive, with a single drug requiring hundreds of millions to complete all the requirements for approval as a treatment. In this talk, I will outline some of the tough lessons learned when science enters the business world of human studies.

The Hype About iPS: Ethical and Practical Implications of Recent Advances in Stem Cell Research

Tue, 03 May 2011 11:29:44 -0700

Talk by Fabio Rossi, Medical Genetics and Biomedical Research Centre and 2011 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Stem cells hold tremendous promise for both therapeutic and commercial applications. However, theoretical, practical, ethical, and regulatory obstacles hinder the path to these achievements. While we wait, scrupleless individuals whom, operating abroad, are not bound by the same regulatory constraints existing in “western” countries give patients false hopes and thrive on “stem cell tourism.” How long before we see these promises realized? Which applications will come first?

Singing Meaning into Lost Childhood in Arcade Fires The Suburbs

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:59:57 -0700

Talk by Richard Kurth, Professor and Director, School of Music

The Suburbs, by the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire, was recently awarded Album of the Year in a surprise finish at the 2011 Grammy Awards. The album's words and music are a generation's lament for a childhood overwhelmed by suburban sprawl and the cycles of industrialized consumer economy, and an attempt to define a viable adult identity and future. The music, built in layers, works out ambiguities and ironies, resolving some, and accepting others. The talk will explore how the first two songs (a linked pair) reconfigure familiar features of pop music, symbolically recycling the predictable materials of suburban life, and expressing the sediments of mixed feelings, past and present.

The Depth and Limits of Subliminal Processing

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:05:18 -0700

Talk by Stanislas Dehaene, Experimental Cognitive Psychology, Collège de France and 2011 Wall Distinguished Visiting Professor

Everybody knows about subliminal images. In the laboratory, we can easily flash visual stimuli so quickly, and in such close temporal proximity to other “masking” stimuli, that they cannot be consciously perceived. My colleagues and I are using behavioral measurements and images of brain activity to probe the depth of processing of subliminal words and digits in the human brain. The results indicate that subliminal stimuli receive considerable cortical processing. Many stages of reading can unfold without consciousness: visual word recognition, invariance for font and case, semantic access, categorization according to instructions, and even motor preparation all operate non-consciously. The brain is also able to accumulate evidence from several subliminal stimuli presented serially or in parallel. The question then arises: Does non-conscious processing exhibit any limits? Recent experiments suggest that conscious access is needed for some high-level supervisory operations, including the flexible and rational control of our decisions and the chaining of several steps within a non-routine mental algorithm.

Historic Monuments and the Politics of Cultural Genocide in Bosnia 1991-1994

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:03:29 -0700

Talk by Jerrilynn Dodds, Architectural Historian and Dean of the College, Sarah Lawrence College, New York and UBC Cecil and Ida Green Visiting Professor

In the Balkan wars of the early 1990’s, the destruction of architecture became a
tool of successive campaigns of cultural genocide, meant to help erase one or
more of the multiple groups who inhabited contested territories. This lecture will
explore the architecture of Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim populations of
Bosnia, both in historical encounters, and in the devastating wars of the 1990’s

Nanofibre Technology: New Frontier in Advanced Materials Research

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:56:28 -0800

Talk by Frank Ko, Materials Engineering and Director of AMPEL

Polymeric fibrous materials are the fundamental building blocks of living systems. From the 1.5 nm double helix strand of DNA molecules, including cytoskeleton filaments with diameters around 30 nm; to sensory cells such as hair cells and rod cells of the eyes, nanoscale fibers form the extracellular matrices for tissues and organs. Based upon these “blueprints” laid out by nature, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the availability of nanoscale (less than 100 nm diameter) fibers made of polymers having adjustable electronic, biological and mechanical properties will not only enable novel biotechnology, neuroscience, microelectronics, and nanoscience research, but also open new opportunities for numerous applications related to health, energy, and environment. After a brief introduction to nanofibre technology the exciting research and commercial opportunities of nanofibre technology will be illustrated through examples of the growing nanofibre-related research activities at UBC.

Rethinking the History of Natural Right

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:34 -0800

Talk by Dan Edelstein, French, Stanford University

Scholars tend to study the history of natural right using very traditional methods: great men wrote canonical books which were read by other great men who wrote more canonical books, until finally the French revolutionaries declared the rights of man and of the citizen. But recent works on natural right contest this historiographical approach, and challenge us to rethink the way we write the history of natural right. What if the real question was not one of intellectual lineage, but of cultural acceptance? What made natural right theory a political language that was adopted by a wide range of actors -- and not just employed by the famous philosophers?

Waterscapes

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:21:18 -0800

Talk by Gu Xiong, Art History, Visual Art & Theory and 2002-2003 Wall Early Career Scholar

“Waterscapes” explores the potential of using seas, ocean basins, and river networks as frameworks of historical analysis, highlighting the central role of trans-oceanic relationships and exchanges in the shaping of world regions and identities. They deal with transnational migration along major waterways, globalization, and cultural hybridity, and explore the contemporary and historical meaning of waterscapes in the context of large-scale migrations in/to China and Canada

Creative Spaces for the Mind

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:14:34 -0800

Talk by Andrew Macnab, Pediatrics and 2006 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

“We must go beyond textbooks, and travel and explore and tell the world of the glories of our journey” – John Hope Franklin.
This over arching title will allow reflection on three elements: The time spent with an outstanding group of international Fellows at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS), which afforded unique opportunities for dialogue and collaborative research. One such collaboration evaluated a Canadian model for school-based health promotion employed in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, and the impact this program is having on child health and social behaviors. And another initiative begun to explore how to help new parents acquire knowledge and skills that promote early childhood development; in Canada this now involves UBC researchers and the application of new technologies to make evidence from current research more accessible.

À La recherche de l'intelligence artificielle: Machines That Think, Create and Play

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:18 -0800

Talk by Holger Hoos, Computer Science and 2010 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

The creation of artificial intelligence (AI) - of machines that think, feel, and communicate like humans do - is one of the great dreams of humankind, and a quest that has been hotly pursued over the last fifty years. Popularised by science fiction novels, films, and a host of colourful characters, visions of AI have become part of mainstream culture. But is AI really possible? And if so, how will it shape our future? While Dr. Hoos cannot provide conclusive or exhaustive answers to these questions, he will attempt to shed some light on what is possible today and speculate on where this may lead us in the future.

Human Trafficking: Research, Advocacy & Action to Address Emerging Social Challenges

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:30 -0800

Talk by Benjamin Perrin, Law, University of British Columbia and 2008-2009 Wall Early Career Scholar

Professor Benjamin Perrin, author of “Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking,” shares the compelling story behind researching underground criminal activity in Canada and the multi-faceted public engagement, media and advocacy campaign based on this research for this three-year project. The role of public universities in addressing emerging social challenges is an important theme that is explored through the case study under discussion.

Voting with your feet: Exit-based Empowerment in Democratic Theory.

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:38 -0800

Talk by Mark Warren, Political Science and 2010 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Contemporary democratic theory is modeled primarily on membership combined with empowered voice. An alternative to voice, however, is exit: when they have choices, dissatisfied members may choose to leave a collectivity rather than voice their dissatisfactions. But because the concept of exit is often viewed as appropriate only for economic markets, its democratic potentials have not been theorized. The costs to democratic norms are extensive: contemporary theorists implicitly work with a monopoly-based view of organizational power, tacitly approving relationships of domination owing to the formal—though often ineffective—presence of voice-based mechanisms. Contemporary democratic theory should be re-thought to include exit-based empowerments as among its most fundamental features.

Nanomaterials for Alternative Energy Applications

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:41 -0800

Talk by Michael Wolf, Chemistry, University of British Columbia

The emerging energy crisis requires new materials to be found for energy harvesting, generation and storage. Nanomaterials will play a major role in new developments in this important research field in solar energy harvesting and photovoltaic devices (solar cells), power generation and storage, and in gas storage and fuel cells. Transformational technologies will be enabled by the use of nanomaterials as electrodes in batteries, in organic solar cells and as electrodes in fuel cells. Dr. Wolf recently led a Wall Exploratory Workshop to address these issues.

Pre-Pragmatisms and Robust Empiricisms: James, Whitehead, Wilson

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:43 -0800

Talk by Steven Meyer, History, Washington University in St. Louis

In Wandering Significance (2006), Mark Wilson develops a dissenting "pre-pragmatist," post-Quinean stance with regard to the classical picture of concepts provided by Bertrand Russell in response to late-nineteenth-century crises in classical mechanics and applied mathematics. Although Wilson portrays William James as a "fully fledged" pragmatist, accounts by Isabelle Stengers and Bruno Latour strikingly characterize James in a manner that deserves to be called pre-pragmatist as well. Wilson's historical reconstruction of the crises also makes it possible, perhaps for the first time, to appreciate the motivation they provided for Alfred North Whitehead to move toward what James called a "process philosophy" and toward the more robust empiricism he shares with James and Wilson.

Steven Meyer teaches intellectual history at Washington University in St. Louis and is the author of Irresistible Dictation: Gertrude Stein and the Correlations of Writing and Science (2001). Among current projects he is completing Robust Empiricisms: Jamesian Modernism between the Disciplines, 1878 to the Present.

Hume on Happiness

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:46 -0800

Talk by Margaret Schabas, Philosophy, University of British Columbia and 2010 Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

David Hume (1711-1776), the most influential philosopher to have written in the English language, maintained that happiness was the goal of all human activity. “For this were arts invented, sciences cultivated, laws ordained, and societies modelled.” Hume was also one of the first to analyze and assimilate the rise of commerce and trade, and recognized that the pursuit of luxuries, while a source of happiness, could drive humans onto the wrong developmental path. The significant increase in wealth in Western Europe tended to deplete the stock of non-pecuniary goods, such as friendship, and induce an increase in military expenditures and thus government debt. As would John Maynard Keynes two centuries hence, Hume admired the wealth-creating effects of the capitalist system while deploring its dehumanizing and destabilizing tendencies. This talk outlines Hume’s vision for human prosperity and the pursuit of happiness, both individual and collective.

Nanospace Biophysics

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:49 -0800

Talk by Professor Edwin Moore, Cellular & Pysiological Sciences

Pragmatic, Prescient and Prudential: Corporate Governance of Banks in the Wake of the Financial Crisis

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 09:02:54 -0800

Talk by Janis Sarra - Law, University of British Columbia and 2010 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Can’t You See I’m Busy? Designing Computers that Only Interrupt when they Should

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:13:30 -0700

Talk by Barbara Grosz, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University and 2010 Peter Wall Distinguished Visiting Professor

Ever been annoyed by a dialogue box that pops up trying to be helpful, but asks something stupid instead? Sometimes a computer system has information that would be helpful to its user; at other times, the system may need information that only its user has. Too often, computer systems control an interaction, forcing their users to accommodate them. Harvard computer scientist and Radcliffe Institute Dean Barbara J. Grosz will describe research that aims to shift the burden of adaptation from human to computer, so that computers respect our needs and adapt to us rather than the other way around.

Revisiting the Hygiene Hypothesis - Clean Living and the Effect of Microbiota on Diarrhea and Asthma

Wed, 12 May 2010 12:00:00 -0700

Brett Finlay, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Microbiology & Immunology and Wall Distinguished Professor

The microbiota (normal flora) is comprised of many microbes living in and on our bodies. Only recently have we begun to appreciate the impact of these organisms on our health and disease, impacting on obesity, bowel diseases, type I diabetes, immune development, etc. In developed countries, we have gone to great lengths to minimize our exposure to microbes, both pathogenic and harmless. The Hygiene Hypothesis suggests that perhaps we have gone too far, as hominids have evolved in a sea of microbes and actually need exposure early in life to microbes to minimize allergic diseases, including asthma. Recent work in our lab has begun to explore the role of the microbiota in experimental asthma and infectious diarrhea. We are finding that the microbiota play central roles in these diseases. Recent results in this area will be discussed, as will their implications in our quest to minimize our exposure to microbes.

Telling it to the Judge: Historical Evidence and Métis Rights in Canada

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:00:00 -0700

Arthur (Skip) Ray, History

The Canadian philosopher Ralston Saul declared in his recent acclaimed book, A Fair Country, that Canada is a Métis nation that should embrace its mixed aboriginal and settler ancestry. Although the sentiment may be admirable, the reality is quite different. Canada’s Métis people and communities have struggled for their rights through armed conflicts in 1869-70 and in 1885 and thereafter through political activism. A breakthrough was achieved in 1982, when Section 35 of Canada’s new Constitutional Act recognized Métis as Aboriginal people and protected their existing Aboriginal rights. It would, however, be left to the courts to determine: Who is Métis? Where do the Métis live? What cultural practices are distinctly Métis? Since 1982, these questions have been asked and argued in Canadian courts as Métis press for legal recognition of their constitutionally protected, but undefined, Aboriginal rights. Along the way, trial and appeal courts have become the arbiters of Canadian Métis identity and culture. The rising tide of litigation has reinvigorated historical research to both address the courts’ evolving notions of Métis rights and influence those conceptualizations. Litigation-oriented research, in turn, challenges the existing scholarship on Métis history. I will discuss this interactive process from the perspective of my involvement as an ethnohistorical geographer who was an expert witness in R. v. Powley (2003) concerning the Métis of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario – it was the first Métis rights case to reach the Supreme Court of Canada after 1982 – and cases in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan after Powley.

Epigenetics: A revolution in the making

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Anthony Phillips, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia.

Molecular biologists have identified new layers of information contained within the physical structure of the genome which are epigenetic (upon/genetics) in nature and able to affect gene transcription without changing the genetic code per sey. Of particular interest is the clear evidence that environmental factors may influence epigenetic modifications thus providing a unique perspective on gene-environment interactions in health and disease. Perhaps the most remarkable inference related to epigenetic modification of gene transcription is its apparent heritability, with the attendant suggestion that unique gene-environment interactions in one lifetime may affect the offspring for generations to come. This brief overview of epigenetics will focus on recent multidisciplinary experimental findings of great import to our understanding of complex medical disorders including anxiety, addiction and schizophrenia, along with cancer, type-2 diabeties other major forms of ill health.

Pensions, Privatisation and Poverty: The Gendered Impact

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Claire Young, Law, University of British Columbia.

Increasingly the Canadian government is encouraging its citizens to save for their retirement through private pension plans such as occupational pension plans and RRSPs rather than relying on the more public and universal state pension plans such as the OAS and CPP. In my talk I will argue that the current policy of privatizing responsibility for economic security in retirement has a particularly detrimental effect on women for a variety of reasons. I will canvass a range of issues including the role played by the current tax subsidies for retirement savings, the move from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans, and the impact of the Global Financial Crisis.

Navigating TB Transmission Networks with Genomics and Phylogenetics

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Robert Brunham, Infectious Diseases, University of British Columbia.

At the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, whole genome sequencing is quickly becoming an integral part of outbreak investigations. This presentation describes the investigation of a 2006 outbreak of tuberculosis. In this - the first project to use bacterial whole genome sequences to identify transmission patterns - the complete genomes of the majority of outbreak TB isolates were sequenced through a collaboration with Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre. Genomic data was analyzed in parallel with epidemiological data gathered in the field using a social network questionnaire, ultimately enabling the construction of a putative transmission network and revealing unexpected patterns and drivers of transmission.

Catastrophe Theory and the Future of Farming (As Seen From China)

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:00:00 -0800

Talk by Alexander Woodside, History, University of British Columbia.

What has come to be known as agrarian catastrophe theory predicts that by the year 2050 there will be nine to ten billion people on this planet, and that it will be necessary to feed them on the basis of less farmland, less water, less energy (at least of the present kind), and fewer chemicals than were available during the recent golden age of farm productivity from 1950 to the 1990s, when global food output increases exceeded even that period's enormous population growth. One catastrophist in particular, Lester Brown, has argued that China will precipitate a global food supply crisis by about the year 2030. The anger among Chinese elite thinkers that Brown provoked suggests that the world does not yet have an effectively postcolonial language, social scientific or otherwise, for discussing global problems like this, in mutually understandable terms that the world's multiplying national knowledge oligarchies can share. The talk will examine the obstacles (apart fromthe far too numerous variables involved in predicting future world food output) that inhibit us from creating a common practical futurology as part of our management of risks to the planet.

Arts-Based Methods in Health Research

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0800

Talk by Susan Cox, Centre for Applied Ethics, and George Belliveau, Language & Literacy Education, University of British Columbia.

Health practitioners have long recognized the therapeutic value of the arts in healing. Health researchers have also adapted arts-based approaches to knowledge translation. More recently, health researchers have also begun to explore the use of the arts in all stages of inquiry. Part of the appeal is that arts-based methods of inquiry offer alternative ways of asking and answering questions as well as disseminating research findings to diverse audiences. Arts-based methods seem to speak to the heart as well as the mind, opening up possibilities for deeper dialogue and potentially more holistic understanding of the subject. There is, however, very limited empirical research on the practice of arts-based inquiry in health and other fields. Nor has there been any significant attention given to the methodological and ethical issues arising in the creation, performance and display of artistic works. A recent Peter Wall Exploratory Workshop tackled some of these issues by bringing together a range of researchers and artists to initiate development of a research agenda that would advance knowledge and practical applications in the developing area of arts-based inquiry. This presentation highlights salient research questions and priorities identified by the workshop participants.

Removing Barriers and Enabling Individuals: Ethics, Design, and Use of Assistive Technologies

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Talk by Meeko Oishi, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia

Assistive technologies have potential to significantly improve the lives of people with disabilities by enabling independence and facilitating social connections, however research in assistive technologies creates several challenges. These timely and important issues were the subject of a recently held Wall Exploratory Workshop which aimed to address the interdisciplinary gap that exists in assistive technology research.

Two Men of War and Their Big Idea: Walter Christaller, Edward Ullman, and Central Place Theory

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Trevor Barnes, Geography, University of British Columbia and 2009 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

This talk examines the role of war on the production of academic geographical knowledge by examining the case of central place theory. Central place theory, a theory of the optimal spatial distribution of cities, was independently discovered at various times during the 1930s by three men: the Germans, August Lösch and Walter Christaller, and the American, Edward Ullman. Lösch spent the Second World War at a research institute, whereas Christaller became a member of Himmler's SS in July 1940, and Ullman joined the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA. The paper focuses primarily on Christaller and Ullman. The talk details the wartime activities of both men, and follow their later activities once the war is over until they meet at what became a key conference in post-war geography, the 1960 IGU Symposium on Urban Geography at Lund, Sweden. The conference was so important because it set out a scientific agenda for the discipline, one critically informed by central place theory.

Globalization and the Service Workplace

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Danielle van Jaarsveld, Sauder School of Business, and Daniyal Zuberi, Sociology, University of British Columbia

Global economic competition poses significant challenges for our understanding of the world of work. An exemplar case for examining how global competition is re-organizing work is found in the service sector. The service sector encompasses work that involves the provision of services to customers. As a consequence of globalization, service work is being outsourced both locally and, in some cases, globally transcending national borders through offshoring arrangements. Despite the pervasiveness of these trends, relatively little is known about whether national institutions are still meaningful as technology facilitates the seamless transfer of work from one geographic location to another. Beyond institutions, not much is known about how the re-organization of service work is affecting job quality and labour market outcomes for the service workforce. These timely and important issues were the subject of a recently held Peter Wall Exploratory Workshop.

The Brain and Decisions: Emotion and Reason

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:40:14 -0800

Talk by Alain Berthoz, College de France and 2009 Peter Wall Distinguished Visiting Professor

Theories proposing that man is a rational decider have been questioned since the pioneering work of the psychologist Daniel Kahneman, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002. It is, today, necessary to establish new foundations for a biologically based theory of decision making including the important role of emotion. Numerous studies in Cognitive Neuroscience have recently been devoted to this question. Alain Berthoz presents some of the work done in our laboratory and in other groups that show that decision making is a distributed property of brain functions at many levels of perception, action, and reasoning, and show how modern fMRI, and intracranial recordings techniques in epileptic patients, allow us to begin having an insight into the hierarchical organization of these multiple levels of decision and their interaction with the limbic system, which is responsible for emotion. He also alludes to the fact that simplifying mechanisms, anticipation, and selection of species relevant information contribute to the capacity of living organisms to make rapid and efficient decisions.

Eyes and Hands and Brains! Oh, My!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Dinesh Pai, Computer Science, University of British Columbia

The Sensorimotor Computation project, funded by a Wall Major Thematic grant, aims to develop a constructive understanding of how humans move. Dinesh Pai describes computational models of the exquisite biomechanical machinery of eyes and hands that they are constructing in this project, using new imaging techniques and efficient simulation algorithms. As the nod to the Wizard of Oz in the title suggests, Dinesh will speculate on how this emerging picture could change the way we think about information processing and machines that perform work.

Evolution of Diversity

Wed, 27 May 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Michael Doebeli, Mathematics and Zoology, University of British Columbia and 2009 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

The diversity of life is astounding. All life evolved from a much more uniform ancestral state, which begs the question about the mechanisms for the evolution of diversity. Traditional evolutionary theory predicts uniformity: natural selection, acting on organisms under given environmental conditions, produces a unique, optimally adapted phenotype. This view, according to which diversity only emerges through a change in conditions over space or time, misses out on the important perspective that diversification can itself be an adaptive process that is driven by biological interactions, such as competition for resources. This talk will briefly review basic theoretical concepts underlying such adaptive diversification, and then give a few salient examples for this process, including results from experimental evolution in the bacterium E. coli. It will conclude by discussing how evolutionary concepts could help us understand the emergence of diversity in human culture, e.g. in languages and religions.

Conservation and Animal Welfare Science

Wed, 13 May 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by David Fraser, Land & Food Systems and Centre for Applied Ethics, University of British Columbia

The concerns that people express about animals tend to focus on two issues: animal conservation (preservation of populations, species, and ecosystems) and animal welfare (suffering, health, and quality of life). Scientists responding to these concerns have created two distinct fields. Conservation biology uses the tools of ecology and population biology, and deals with wild animals at the population and ecosystem level. Animal welfare science uses the tools of animal behaviour, physiology and veterinary medicine, and deals mainly with domestic and captive animals, especially at the individual level. Actions taken in support of animal conservation (such as controlling abundant animals to protect endangered ones) sometimes trigger opposition on grounds of animal welfare, and vice versa. However, some of the major harms to animals arise from forestry, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and urban development, and these constitute threats to both animal conservation and animal welfare. And as the human population of the planet increases, the problems of conservation and animal welfare will increasingly merge.

Taming the Complexity Monster - On Computational Complexity and Ways of Dealing With It

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Talk by Holger Hoos, Computer Science, University of British Columbia

We live in interesting times. As individuals, as members of various communities and organisations, and as inhabitants of this planet, we face many challenges, ranging from climate change to resource limitations, from market risks and uncertainties to complex diseases. These challenges often arise from the complexity of the systems we are dealing with and from the problems that arise from understanding, modeling, and controlling these systems. Computing scientists and IT professionals have a lot to contribute: solving complex problems by means of computer systems, software, and algorithms is an important part of what the field is about. This talk focuses on a type of complexity that is of central interest in many areas within computing science and its applications, namely computational complexity, and in particular, NP-hardness.

Random Walks and Random Structure

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Martin Barlow, Mathematics, University of British Columbia and 2009 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

'Randomness' and 'structure' may seem contradictory concepts; but many large scale random systems also have interesting structures. The first, random walks, describes the motion of a particle which moves in space 'at random'. Significant work was done in the early 20th century: in particular random walks and their continuum limits were used by Einstein to study Brownian motion, and Bachelier to study stock prices. The second model is 'percolation', which was introduced by Broadbent and Hammersley in 1957. This describes a network with random connections: one motivation was to describe obstructions to the flow of gas through the carbon filter in a gas mask. Percolation arises in many other contexts: one example is that of the 'contact networks' used to describe the spread of disease in a community. Though both models can be described easily, many questions remain unsolved.

The New Economy of the Inner City: Restructuring, Regeneration and Dislocation in the Metropolis

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Thomas Hutton, Community & Regional Planning and Centre for Human Settlements, University of British Columbia

A quarter century following the restructuring process which swept away the traditional manufacturing economy of the metropolis, new industries and enterprises are transforming postindustrial landscapes of the inner city. These creative, technology-intensive industries are integral to the emergence of the 'new inner city' of the 21st century. This presentation addresses the critical intersections between process and place which underpin the formation of creative enterprises in the inner city's new industrial districts, demonstrating the global reach of development and innovation across urban systems. Instructive case studies include London, San Francisco, Singapore and Vancouver, as well as reference examples such as New York, Melbourne, Milan, Florence, and Hanoi.

Watcher of the Sky: An Observational Astronomer's View of the Universe

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Harvey Richer, Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia and 2009 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Observational astronomy is the science of observing the Universe using various astronomical instruments. This talk discusses some of the objects, events and instruments that have influenced Harvey Richer's career as an observational astronomer.

The Art and Science of Climate Modeling

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Philip Austin, Earth & Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia

How will the Earth respond as humanity continues to transform the atmosphere? While climate models agree on the broad outlines of future warming, there were striking differences among the 23 models that participated in the most recent international assessment. This talk will address the strengths and weaknesses of those climate simulations, with a particular focus on how we evaluate the largest uncertainties and feedbacks in the Canadian climate model.

Varieties of Empathy in Science, Art and Culture

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Talk by Robert Brain, History, University of British Columbia

How do we know the emotions and expressions, thoughts and intentions of others? Over the last twenty years two streams of research, one rooted in the neurosciences, another in the humanities, initially separate but increasingly joined, have cast dramatic new light on our capacity to mentally identify ourselves with persons or objects of contemplation. The discovery of mirror neurons, which simulate bodily movements and emotions in the brain, opened a new investigation of empathic response in humans and animals. Around the same time humanists "rediscovered" a nineteenth and early twentieth century research tradition in the physiology, psychology, and philosophy of art, architecture and social communication, which similarly described human modes of comprehending corporeal gestures and emotions. "Varieties of Empathy in Science, Art, and Culture," a Peter Wall Institute Exploratory workshop held in early October, brought together researchers across the sciences and the arts to engage current science with new historical and philosophical investigations.

Changing Our High-Carbon Aesthetic: Shifting Attitudes on Climate Change

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Talk by Stephen Sheppard, Forest Resources Management and Landscape Architecture, University of British Columbia and 2009 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

This talk focuses on some aesthetic aspects of climate change, exploring relationships between human perception and causes of climate change in western cultures. It will discuss and illustrate the often overlooked socio-cultural phenomenon which we may term the "High-Carbon Aesthetic," related to concepts such as "conspicuous consumption" and prevailing aspirations for 'monster homes,' status vehicles, and imported luxury materials. By excluding from our communities the visual blight of washing lines, photovoltaics, and tree-harvesting, are we committing to additional fossil fuel usage and global warming? This talk reviews some new evidence on the role of visual media in cognition and attitudes on climate change, with particular reference to the effects of growing climate change awareness on our perceptions of environmental limits and desirable lifestyles. It speculates on the emergence or re-emergence of a "Low-Carbon Aesthetic," favouring landscapes with smaller homes and locally more self-reliant communities.

"I'm My Own Muse": Mediating the Personal in Contemporary Women's Art

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Talk by Sneja Gunew, English and Women's Studies, University of British Columbia

"The personal" has been a liberating concept for women in that it helped articulate women's differences as part of generating second-wave feminism. However, it has also functioned to trap women by reducing them to the personal and the domestic at the expense of their participation in the public realm. The talk will look at the distinctive ways in which two contemporary women artists interpret the personal. British artist Tracey Emin's work embraces the autobiographical as intertwined with the sexual, whereas Australian artist Tracey Moffatt's emphasis on formalism keeps at bay those critics who attempt to essentialise her as an Aboriginal artist.

Translation and Authority

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Susanna Braund, Classical, Near Eastern, & Religious Studies, University of British Columbia

Whether we realize it or not, we all engage in multiple acts of 'translation' every day. Translation extends beyond words and texts; it involves values and ideologies. We cannot expect to become global citizens without understanding other cultures, and that entails understanding how acts of translation work. We need to know what gets lost, found, suppressed, enhanced and changed in translation.

Translation is closely bound up with authority. Any translation transaction involves two languages or cultures, usually in a hierarchical relationship, whether this is implicit or explicit. Yet we often invest translations with enormous authority, with little reflection on modes of production or the impact of the hierarchies of languages, cultures, values or ideas. In other words, translation is usually a political act.

A Mathematician's Adventures in Cell Biology

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0800

Talk by Leah Keshet, Mathematics, University of British Columbia and 2009 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Many types of animal cells have the capacity to move by crawling. These include amoebae, white blood cells, and other cells responsible for healing wounds (e.g. fibroblasts, keratocytes). Typically, after a directional stimulus such as a chemical gradient, a resting cell becomes polarized, changes its shape, and starts to crawl in the given direction. Cell motility stems from constant remodeling of, and propulsive forces exerted by biopolymers that form the internal "skeleton" of the cell (called the cytoskeleton, and largely composed of actin), regulated by a complex biochemical "signaling" network, whose details are gradually being elucidated experimentally. In the face of emerging complexity, it is challenging to appreciate which elements/features are central, and which are secondary, which parts of the system control key aspects of cell locomotion, and how the elements work together in space and time. In this talk, I will highlight how mathematical modeling can help to address these issues. The models act as a tool to help bridge the gap between one scale (e.g. interacting molecules) and another (cell behaviour).

Swapping Rocks: Natural Interplanetary Material Exchange and Implications for Planetary Protection

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Brett Gladman, Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia

We often think of planets being isolated islands in the vastness of interplanetary space, but recovered meteorites show that there are natural processes that blast intact rocks off of Mars and the Moon and drop them on Earth. This process gives us interesting samples of other bodies for free, but also poses policy, scientific, and ethical questions about the origins of life and how spacecraft missions should operate.

Visual Analytics

Wed, 28 May 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Ronald Rensink, Psychology and Computer Science, University of British Columbia

Visual analytics is the science of extracting intelligence from high volumes and disparate kinds of information. It does so by utilizing interactive visual interfaces to collect massive datasets and produce meaningful patterns to inform decision-making across a broad range of activities. In combining cognitive science, computer science, mathematics, and graphical interaction, it is inherently multidisciplinary. It also has a wide-ranging set of applications in both scientific research and in the ‘real world.’

The Role of the Microbiota in Infectious Enteric Diseases

Wed, 14 May 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Brett Finlay, Michael Smith Laboratories, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia, and Peter Wall Distinguished Professor

The number of microbes in and on us outnumber our human cells by a factor of 10, and one gram of feces contains more bacteria than all humans in the world. Despite this, we have only recently begun to explore the human microbiome and its effects on us. There is strong preliminary evidence that the normal flora impacts on obesity, metabolism, inflammatory bowel diseases, asthma, and infectious diseases. The role of the microbiota in these diseases will be overviewed, and some results will be presented from an infection biology point of view.

Reproducing Music in Silence: What Musicality Is and How We Cultivate It

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by William Benjamin, Music, University of British Columbia and 2008 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

If musicality is a species trait, it can’t be the ability to put together original utterances. This is because the constituents of music—its little note-fragments—lack the stable grammatical identities that words or phrases tend to have. Moreover, a musical object’s meaning changes depending on rhythmic placement. All this makes music too complicated to improvise without devoting oneself to the task, and for the same reason, impossible to parse unequivocally. Thus, many take musicality in non-professionals as the ability to feel the music’s emotions. But this conclusion fails to distinguish between our readings of music and of other forms of emotional expression. I propose that musicality is the ability to reproduce music: I call this ability Ordinary Musical Memory (OMM), I will suggest that music may have been selected, in evolution, as a mnemonic for, or driver of, complex, synchronized behaviour; that OMM developed as its necessary rehearsal technique; and that both remain sources of pleasure.

What Can the Humanities Offer Science in Understanding Genetics and Social "Race"?

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Margery Fee, English, University of British Columbia and 2008 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Humanities scholars can help untangle some of the confusions caused by what geneticist Richard Lewontin calls 'bad metaphor.' Existing conceptual frames or narratives may lead to bad science, or they may lead to misunderstanding when scientific findings are communicated to a wider public.

The Sea Ahead: Learning from the Past

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:00:00 -0700

Talk by Tony Pitcher, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia and 2008 Peter Wall Distinguished Scholar in Residence

The living ocean is in a parlous state: this talk starts by describing how massive depletions of large fish and alarming reductions in marine biodiversity have resulted from fishing through ecological, economic and cognitive ratchet-like processes. In order to maintain food security, future exploitation for human food may deliberately "fish down the food web", but unless this is done in a precautionary fashion, it will likely provoke an unacceptable degree of volatility and uncertainty. What may be done to reverse such perverse trends? I examine some recent, interdisciplinary advances in the historical reconstruction of past marine ecosystems, show how simulation modeling may be used to explore quantitative restoration goals for the future, and discuss how this task might be tackled in the face of climate change and the need for trade-offs among conservation, economic and nutritional benefits.