During each academic year, Green College hosts a number of lecture series that are open without charge to College members, the UBC community, and the general public. These series are presented by the College in collaboration with faculty members from UBC departments and programs who act as convenors and coordinate themes and speakers.
Interdisciplinary events typically take place at the College either before dinner or after dinner. These timings ”outside normal classroom and business hours” are in keeping with the extracurricular nature of the College’s academic programming and are intended to make it easy for those who attend the talks to join the speakers and College residents for dinner.
See the current listing below of interdisciplinary series at Green College for series names, dates, convenors, and descriptions, and consult our Calendar of Events for further details of talks.
Visit our Past Series page to view a historical archive of interdisciplinary series from past years.
Green College Interdisciplinary Series List 2011/12:
Green College Resident Members’ Series
Convenors: Green College Resident Members and Melissa Ellamil
Dates: Mondays at 8 pm in the Coach House
The Green College Members' Series each week features a different presenter (or presenters) from among the resident members of Green College. Graduate students and postdoctoral and visiting scholars are encouraged to offer talks on their areas of research or study and, as appropriate, to bring in their research colleagues from outside the College too. Like all academic programming at the College, these talks are open not just to Green College members, but to the community at large both within and beyond UBC.
Principal’s Series: Thinking at the Edge of Reason:
Interdisciplinarity in Action
Convenor: , Green College Principal
Dates: Sept 13, Sept 27, Oct 11, Oct 25, Nov 8, Nov 15, Nov 29,
Jan 10, Jan 24, Feb 14, Mar 6, Mar 20, Apr 10, Apr 17, Apr 24
Talks in this series, which is hosted by the Principal of Green College and members of the College, are designed to be accessible to a non-specialist audience and to showcase work by UBC and visiting researchers, including the Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professors. There is always an opportunity for public discussion after the talk, and for informal conversation, continued over dinner at the College for those who choose to stay for that: see http://www.greencollege.ubc.ca/dinner. This year the talks in the Principal’s Series share the Tuesday evening spot with two other series, both likewise designed to be of broad appeal, namely the Senior Scholars’ Series on “The Passions that Drive Academic Life” and the Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program (ISGP) Series, entitled “ISGP Series: (Fear of) The Unknown – The Stress of Experiencing the Future.”
ISGP Series: (Fear of) The Unknown –
The Stress of Experiencing the Future
Convenor: and Madalina Wierzbicki, Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program
Dates: Nov 1, Dec 6, Jan 17, Feb 7, Mar 13, Apr 3
Demographic growth, global instability and climatic changes flex the framework of society. ”Experiencing the Future” is an invitation to reflect on the elements of social infrastructure in the context of continuously changing, and increasing demands. Whether tangible like urban infrastructure and public spaces, or abstract like politics and ethics, these elements are a part of much of interdisciplinary research. Interdisciplinary practitioners present their contributions and experiences on a broad range of topics: Ethics of change; a future without pain; mass delivery of comfort; emotional quality as service; managing the meaning of being; spontaneity vs norm; social sustainability; the ecology of progress; spaces of interaction; microclimates of built environments; health as a component of building lifecycles.
Thematic Series: The United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals:
Progress and Prospects
Convenors: , Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability; Hisham Zerriffi, Liu Institute for Global Issies
Dates: Sept 26, Oct 26, Nov 30, Jan 30, Feb 29, Mar 28
Over the past two decades, the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs—eight guiding objectives to reduce global poverty and improve the standard of living of the world’s poor—have became the foundation of the UN’s international development framework. As the suggested timeline for these targets is soon coming to an end (2015), there is a need for discussion and evaluation of what progress we have made towards meeting these goals, what obstacles remain, and what the effects of the MDGs as a policy instrument and set of guiding principles have been. This series engages with the set of goals on the whole, as well as several specific mandates, to improve understanding of issues related to poverty alleviation in the developing world and also to address key governance issues and outstanding concerns. Specific lectures will likely include focus on poverty and hunger; gender equality, environmental sustainability, water quality and access, and education. This Green College Thematic Series is co-sponsored by The Liu Institute for Global Issues and The International Development Research Network.
Thematic Series: Between Rules and Practice:
Why We Need Practical Wisdom in Politics
Convenor: , Department of Political Science
Dates: Sept 29, Oct 24, Nov 17, Jan 27, Feb 9, Mar 1, Mar 2
What moral skill and will do we need as citizens, professionals, parents and friends to know how to act in particular circumstances, especially when general rules and incentives are insufficient to guide us toward what is good or advantageous? Aristotle called this sort of moral know-how “practical wisdom” or phronesis. Recent research in the natural and social sciences has profound implications for practical wisdom. Findings from fields as diverse as evolutionary biology, social psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, education and political science provide an increasingly complex understanding of the human capacity (and the limits of that capacity) for empathy, judgment, problem-solving, deliberation, and cooperation—all of which are ingredients of practical wisdom. The goal of the colloquium series “Between Rules and Practice” is not only to survey diverse fields of knowledge and bring them to bear on contemporary practices and institutions in democratic societies, but also to ask: Are good institutions enough? Should the university cultivate practical wisdom in citizens and leaders?
Thematic Series: Bringing the Collective Together:
Nonhuman Animals, Humans and Practice at the University
Convenor: Laura Janara, Department of Political Science
Dates: Oct 27, Feb 1, Mar 7, Mar 29
How are nonhuman animals seen and used by humans at the university? What is the history and the ethics of this practice? How should a democratic society deliberate about the use of animals at a university? How does the prevailing mode of regulation relate to the value of practical wisdom? How might animal voices best be heard and attended to by a democratic public? This series initiates meaningful interdisciplinary, scholarly deliberation about the use of nonhuman animals in university teaching and research. It brings together scholars from the humanities, social sciences and sciences who otherwise have scant occasion to interact. It creates opportunity to compare Canadian regulation to that in other jurisdictions; explores the ethics of the use of life, including by invoking diverse cultural standpoints; examines who benefits from animal research; and interrogates the juridical and political governance of nonhuman animals in a democratic society.
Thematic Series: Transforming Canada: Histories of Environmental Change
Convenor: , Department of Geography
Dates: Sept 19, Oct 17, Nov 14, Jan 16, Feb 13, Mar 12, Apr 16
Reflecting the harsh climate, thin soils and generally forbidding character of the vast northern territory that is Canada, it has often been said that the history of this country is inescapably environmental. This lecture series engages the great drama of human interaction with this challenging realm, reflecting on the transformation of the northern half of the continent through time as a foundation for sensible engagement with the environmental challenges facing Canadian society in the twenty-first century. Each lecture will address one of three central themes – Human activities and Canadian Nature; Nature’s Influence on the nature of Canada; and Ideas and Nature in Canada – and reflect upon how the subject of the lecture has affected/ changed “the nature of Canada”. This Green College Interdisciplinary Series receives additional support from NiCHE (Network in Canadian History and Environment); Brenda and David McLean Chair in Canadian Studies (UBC); Canadian Studies Program (UBC); Dean of Arts (UBC); Departments of History and Geography (UBC).
Population Health Series
Convenor: Richard Carpiano, Department of Sociology
Dates: Sept 14, Oct 12, Nov 9, Jan 11, Feb 8, Mar 14
UBC is internationally recognized for its contributions to the creation of “Population Health” as an interdisciplinary field concerned with the powerful role of a host of non-medical determinants of health, development, and well-being across the life course, particularly social and economic factors. The Population Health Speakers Series aims to bring together faculty, students, practitioners and policymakers interested in these issues. The series will have a particular focus on the social sciences and their intersections with other disciplines within population health. Each monthly meeting will feature an invited scholar who is conducting cutting-edge research integrating innovative theoretical perspectives and/or developing novel methods for use in advancing population health science and improving practice and policy. The speaker's presentation and subsequent "brainstorming" dialogue with the audience will be aimed to appeal to a broad range of interests and have great potential for informing the ideas, research, and practices of faculty, students, and local agency representatives.
Law and Society Series
Convenors: , Department of Sociology; Margot Young, Faculty of Law
Dates: Sept 29, Oct 20, Nov 17, Jan 19, Feb 16, Mar 15
Law and Society has a long and interdisciplinary tradition at the University of British Columbia. Building upon this, the speaker series at Green College will facilitate cross-disciplinary dialogue that spans the Social Sciences and Humanities and that addresses questions related to law in the broadest sense. This year, the series will showcase the work of junior and senior scholars doing cutting-edge research in law and society on topics including Aboriginal rights, free expression, migration, critical legal and social theory, and legal history.
Play Chthonics: New Canadian Readings
Convenor: and Sonnet L'Abbé, Department of English
Dates: Sept 21, Oct 19, Nov 16, Dec 7, Jan 18, Feb 15, Mar 14, Apr 4
The Play Chthonics reading series showcases innovative poetry, narrative, and cross-genre writing. We encourage creative, interdisciplinary conversations among writers, students, faculty, theorists, and community members in Vancouver.
Science and Society Series
Convenors: , Department of Philosophy; Jessica Wang, Department of History
Dates: Sept 8, Oct 6, Nov 10, Dec 1, Jan 12, Feb 2, Mar 1, Apr 5
Science and Society features speakers from the constituent areas of Science and Technology Studies: history, philosophy, sociology, rhetoric, cultural and critical studies of science and technology. The talks discuss issues in science and technology as human practices and are aimed at issues of wide appeal and relevance.
Human Evolution, Cognition and Culture Series:
The Cognitive Science of Morality
Convenors: , Department of Asian Studies; Matthew Bedke, Department of Philosophy, , Department of Anthropology and Sociology, SFU; Kiley Hamlin, Department of Psychology, , Department of Psychology; Joe Henrich, Department of Psychology;, Department of Psychology; Ted Slingerland, Department of Asian Studies
Dates: Sept 12, Oct 3, Nov 7, Dec 5, Jan 16, Feb 6, Mar 5, Apr 2, Apr 30
There is a near universal interest in morality that has sparked thought-provoking inquiry for thousands of years. Much of that inquiry proceeded without the benefit of modern cognitive science, but that is now changing. And the change promises to shed new light on morality, particularly its practices, development, and the psychology behind ethical thought. This Green College Interdisciplinary Series brings together speakers from a wide array of disciples – from philosophy and law to biology and psychology – to discuss cutting edge research in the cognitive science of morality. The series is organized by the Centre for Human Evolution, Cognition, and Culture, and co-funded by the UBC Departments of Philosophy and Psychology, and The Applied Ethics Centre at UBC.
Senior Scholars’ Series: The Passions that Drive Scholarly Life
Convenor: , Department of Medical Genetics
Dates: Sept 20, Oct 18, Nov 22, Jan 31, Feb 28, Mar 27
This new series, convened by Dr. Judith Hall on behalf of Green College and the UBC Association of Professors Emeriti, is intended to provide an opportunity for senior/retired academics to describe their personal experiences and journeys through their own academic careers. Some presentations will be on the subject of a lifetime of scholarly work. Others will discuss new focuses which emerged from that work, or describe research findings from a variety of angles. Still others will reflect upon attitudes toward university life that have developed over the years. The series aims to be multidisciplinary and to give expression to the speakers’ mature insights. The intent of the lecture series is to engage Green College residents and other graduate students with senior faculty, expose the academic community to UBC’s most experienced academics, and also draw the greater UTown/Point Grey neighbourhood into the richness of academic life at UBC.
Composers' Collective Series
Convenor: Eileen Padgett, School of Music
Dates: Dec. 10, Feb. 15 2012, TBA
The Composers’ Collective is a Vancouver-based organization for composers to promote and perform contemporary music. Their major goals are to nurture a community of creative musicians, to create opportunities where people interested in the arts can converge and learn from each other, to raise the profile of members’ artistic voices through public concerts and media exposure, to build connections to the wider artistic community by collaborating with other arts organizations in Vancouver, and to foster mentorship between established and emerging artists. The Composer's Collective Series at Green College will present modern music covering the entire contemporary stylistic spectrum, through performances by Canadian musicians and lectures by local composers. The performers and speakers will place contemporary music in the context of historical musical aesthetic movements, and will attempt to involve the public in the triumphs and challenges of a traditional art form in an ever-evolving cultural scene.
