Integrated Human Studies Seminar Series
Human Wellbeing
Open to staff, students and public: admission free. We welcome a diverse and participating audience.
Download venue map here (pdf file)
Venue: Seminar Room (1.81) of the School of Anatomy and Human Biology (second building south of Shenton House on the Matilda Bay side of campus). Light refreshments will be provided.
Time: 5.30 pm – 7.00 pm.
Seminars in 2009
The next seminar series, Being Human, looks at a number of aspects of the human condition. What does it mean to be a human being? What do we understand of ourselves in the phases of our lives and our relationships? This century will be a time of unprecedented change and challenges. What will we need to know in order to meet those challenges and maintain or enhance human wellbeing?
Integrated Human Studies (IHS) is a new approach to tertiary education that brings together the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities to focus on the nature and future of humankind. IHS aims to educate the decision makers of the future with broad understandings to complement their special area of study and help them to face the challenges of the 21st century.
Speakers will include academics, invited experts and practitioners in the field. At each seminar, two or more presenters will give different but complementary perspectives on questions of major concern to human wellbeing now and into the future. Presentations will be followed by a panel and open discussion to further consider the topic in terms of:
What it means to be human, and promotion of human wellbeing within a sustainable world.
NEXT SEMINAR:
The first seminar in our series on Being Human is on March 11, 2009.
More details will be available soon.
PAST SEMINARS:
Seminar 1, August 6 Human wellbeing with chair Prof Neville Bruce and panellists Prof Colin MacLeod and Prof Dennis Haskell. What constitutes human wellbeing? How do we measure it? The first world has conquered major diseases, hunger and many threats, but for the first time, human lifespan in affluent countries is becoming shorter and stress levels and working hours appear to be increasing. For individuals, what does it mean to be healthy in mind, body and spirit?
See Neville Bruce's PowerPoint notes here. (PDF)
See Colin MacLeod's notes here. (PDF)
Seminar 2, August 20 Health with chair A/Prof Neville Bruce and panellists Dr Debra Judge, A/Prof Ted Wilkes and Prof Philip Weinstein. Is there an evolutionary or physiological basis for the psalm’s “Three score years and ten” summation of human lifespan? Historically, what have been the threats to human health? Human beings now have vast medical knowledge and skills, and many diseases that would have killed us last century are treatable and even curable this century. But there are new threats to human health; and policy has so far failed to address the disgraceful state of Indigenous health.
See Debra Judge's PowerPoint notes on the evolution of human lifespan and factors affecting it here. Ted Wilkes's notes on Indigenous health are here. (PDF)
“Are we shitting in our own nest?” See Prof Phil Weinstein's notes here. (PDF)
The theme of the inaugural series, Seeking Wisdom, asked: Why do we need a new wisdom, how do we develop it and above all, how do we act on it?
Seminar 3, 3 September 08 The human spirit
Are religion and spirituality the same things/opposite sides of the same coin? Or can you have one without the other? Is religion a means of social control – “the opiate of the masses” – or an essential part of human wellbeing? Are materialism and spirituality mutually incompatible? Is there a psychological basis for religious or spiritual experiences in individuals? Many people suggest we need to reconnect with the wisdom of Indigenous people, but how is this possible in practical terms?
UWA Anglican chaplain Michael Wood spoke about religion and the value of religious belief. See his PowerPoint notes here.
Prof Mike Anderson spoke on the psychology of religious belief. His notes are here.
Actor and author Peter Docker gave a personal account of his experience of and affinity for Indigenous spirituality. This reading list has informed his thoughts.
Seminar 4, 17 September 08 War and conflict
Humans are manifestly a social species and yet of all species, uniquely genocidal. How can this paradox be explained? The traits of competitiveness and aggression can be expressed in many ways, from individual murder, to ethnic cleansing, and potential annihilation of our species. Do our social practices and systems – adversarial politics and legal practice, a competitive economic system, gladiatorial entertainment – contribute to our tendency to war and lack of respect for others’ rights and cultures? Can new legal approaches to conflict resolution inofrm international diplomacy? How has this topic been addressed in the arts?
Dr Carmen Lawrence spoke about the preconditions for war and conflict. The full text of her talk will be available soon.
Robyn Carroll gave a presentation on mediation in our legal system. See her PowerPoint notes here. (PDF)
Prof Dennis Haskell spoke about the representation of war in art and literature.
Summaries of all the talks are available in our IHS Newsletter Vol 1 No 10 on this site.
Seminar 5, 1 October 08 Poverty and affluence, material and spiritual
While we in the first world grow fat, millions are starving in other countries, and in our own, the working poor proliferate. What are the causes of poverty? What are the consequences of poverty both for those who suffer from it, and for the affluent in the first world? Can both poverty and affluence have material, mental and spiritual dimensions?
Dr Steve Schilizzi spoke about the economics of poverty. His Powerpoint notes are here.
Inga Kristoffersen described the relationship between material circumstances and happiness, and how economists collect and study data. You can read her notes here.
Rev Dr Ian Robinson talked about spiritual poverty, and how we might nurture our spiritual senses. Read his notes here.
Seminar 6, 15 October 08 Community wellbeing, local and global
What constitutes a community; how do people identify themselves as belonging to a community? Does belonging to a community contribute to psychological or indeed physiological health? In Western Australia, have we created communities that will sustain us through this century, or do we need to do things differently? What will vulnerability to rising oil prices mean for communities? A major issue this century is the potential dislocation of millions upon millions of people as they move in search of food and water to survive. How does this displacement affect them, and the communities into which they move?
Chair: Prof Martin Forsey
Dr Debra McDougall spoke about the nature of community with specific reference to the Solomon Islands; Prof Peter Newman talked about designing sustainable communities; and Revd Eira Clapton, described the effect of dislocation on refugees.
First semester series: Seeking wisdom
Seminar 1, April 16 Seeking a wisdom for the 21st Century
The 20th century was one of phenomenal technological progress that ushered in marvellous opportunities for some but poverty and misery for many more. It spawned globalisation, and knowledge explosions. Humans acquired the technological capacity to destroy themselves. They began to damage the ecology of the entire planet. Where was the wisdom?
The 21st century must be one of understanding, reconciliation and repair. It must provide a new wisdom, a wisdom that can harness historical and techno/economic forces that threaten human wellbeing and global and environmental security and sustainability.
For this opening presentation, a panel will examine the above issues and seek a wisdom essential for our time. The role of education, communication and extension will be emphasised and open discussion invited on how institutions and the public can best contribute to developing and enacting this new wisdom.
Introduced by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Don Markwell; panellists include Veronica Brady, Graeme Martin, and Neville Bruce.
View Neville Bruce's PowerPoint slides about Integrated Human Studies here.
Read quotations used by Veronica Brady here.
Seminar 2, April 30 Keeping the arts and culture alive in an economically booming Australia with chair Martin Forsey; panellists Professor Dennis Haskell, academic, poet and administrator; Vivienne Glance, actor and playwright; Noel Nannup, Aboriginal cultural custodian; and Oron Catts, artistic director, SymbioticA. The resource boom has fuelled a surge in the Australian economy; unemployment is at a historic low; wages and corporate profits have soared – at least for many. But has materialism run rampant? Have our culture, our identity and our enjoyment of life in its fullest meaning soared or suffered coincidentally with our 'prosperity'?
What is the value of the arts and humanities to our society, our humanity, our future? Do they need to be revitalised, actively nourished and supported by government, industry, benefactors and the public? How can and how should this be done?
See Vivienne Glance's PowerPoint notes here.
Seminar 3, May 14 Eternal/infernal economic growth with panellists Dr Carmen Lawrence, Dr Michael Chaney and Professor Graeme Martin. The industrial knowledge and information technology revolutions have collectively driven a steady global economic growth for perhaps the last two centuries. We live in the expectation, sometimes unquestioning belief, that this growth together with an increased material 'standard of living' will continue into the foreseeable future. Our politicians assert this as part of their election mantra. Our optimistic technologists and economists generally believe that their 'breakthroughs' will underwrite seemingly unlimited growth.
But are such beliefs reasonable? Are they wise? Has economic growth already touched on the infernal (global warming)?
Read the full text of Dr Chaney's speech here.
Read the notes for Dr Lawrence's speech here.
Seminar 4, May 28 Human altruism, local and global, in theory and practice with panellists Emeritus Professor David Allbrook, Professor Mike Anderson and Dr Gary Ward; chaired by Dr Bev McNamara.
Humans are manifestly a social species. Cooperation and collaboration mixed with intelligence has meant that we, as a physically weak and relatively defenceless animal, have come to dominate the world. But paradoxically, humans are also one of the most aggressive of species. We seem to delight in our own destruction; or at least the destruction of others of our species.
So where does altruism fit within this paradox? What are its evolutionary/biological origins? What can the philosophers and psychologists tell us about altruism? Above all, how can we support altruism; an essential element of any wisdom aimed at human wellbeing at a practical and personal level.
See summaries of the talks in our newsletter here.
For information about The Hunger Project see www.thp.org
Seminar 5, June 11 From information to wisdom with panellists Dr Malcolm Hollick and Veronica Brady; chaired by Professor Dennis Haskell
Where is the life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
T S Eliot, Chorus I from 'The Rock'
Is it coincidence that the further we move into the information age, the closer our civilisation seems to come to breakdown? The world is awash with data. But one binary bit is no different to any other. Raw data are meaningless and useless until we classify them, put them in context, interpret them, and understand their meaning and significance. At this point, information becomes knowledge. But the true value of knowledge only emerges when we use it to help us make wise decisions. What we need most today is not more information, nor even more knowledge, but the wisdom to use well the information and knowledge we have. Malcolm will briefly explore the nature of information, knowledge and wisdom, before suggesting some criteria by which we can test the reliability of knowledge and the wisdom of any idea or proposed course of action. Veronica Brady will revisit her topic from the first seminar, "What is wisdom?"
See Malcolm's and Veronica's PowerPoint notes here. Veronica's notes begin at Slide 36.
Seminar 6, June 25 Greening Australia: why, when and how with panellists Giz Watson, Harry Cohen and Jonathon Thwaites; chaired by Carmen Lawrence. The green movement in Australia has flourished, from its early beginnings as an alternative philosophy championed by farseeing but amateur enthusiasts, to more organised and accredited minor political, academic and interest groups. It has now finally been dignified by adoption by all major political parties, and indeed by nearly all but sectional economic interests and the scientific heretic.
The public battle for the need to think green has been won. But what of the need to act green? Australia is ready to think; is it ready to act and how should it act? Hard decisions will have to be made regarding population policy, greenhouse gas limitation, alternative energies, alternative transport and agriculture policies to name but some. Should (can) our politicians lead or follow with these decisions and what can the individual do?
Harry Cohen: For more information about sustainable population numbers, see Sustainable Population Australia's web site.
See Jonathon Thwaites's PowerPoint notes here. For more information about the Perth Sun Fair, go to www.perthsunfair.com.au, and for information about biodiesel, go to http://www.sustainability.fm.uwa.edu.au
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