Archive
Conference Proceedings - Ethics & the Media in an Era of Complex Moral Challenge
Publication of proceedings of Cambridge conference on the media coverage of ethics and faiths.
Infrastructure and the Future of Society
Cambridge meeting on 10 June 2010 discussed critical issues relating to future of infrastructure for energy, cities and water.
Conference Videos on Rustat Website
Launch of Media Resources section on the Rustat Website
Publication of Proceedings
The proceedings of the Future of Democracy conference have been published on the Rustat website.
Future of Democracy
Rustat Conference tackles most challenging issues facing Democracy
Archive
There are reports and proceedings for some of the conferences and meetings listed below. Where no link is provided, there is currently no report available.
Please also check the Media Resources section for videos and recordings of conference sessions.
Please also check the Media Resources section for videos and recordings of conference sessions.
Infrastructure and the Future of Society - Energy, Water and Cities
Rustat Conference
10 June, 2010
Jesus College, Cambridge
The growth in global and urban populations, the increasing demand for housing, products, services, travel, food and water in both the developed and the developing worlds, will place huge demands on the infrastructure of energy, water and cities. Delivering this infrastructure presents a major challenge in terms of investment and financing, and will carry associated socio-economic costs, as well as opportunities for business. All this at a time when there is an onus on governments to achieve tough carbon reduction targets and replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy.
A team of Cambridge academics and practitioner experts joined decision makers from the fields of engineering, finance, energy, water, politics, sustainable development and the media for round-table discussions and debate on the most vital issues at stake in these important themes. Conference proceedings will be published in September on this site.
Jesus College, Cambridge
The growth in global and urban populations, the increasing demand for housing, products, services, travel, food and water in both the developed and the developing worlds, will place huge demands on the infrastructure of energy, water and cities. Delivering this infrastructure presents a major challenge in terms of investment and financing, and will carry associated socio-economic costs, as well as opportunities for business. All this at a time when there is an onus on governments to achieve tough carbon reduction targets and replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy.
A team of Cambridge academics and practitioner experts joined decision makers from the fields of engineering, finance, energy, water, politics, sustainable development and the media for round-table discussions and debate on the most vital issues at stake in these important themes. Conference proceedings will be published in September on this site.
Professor Nicholas Boyle - Re-thinking Political Economy
Coleridge Society Lecture
2010
Jesus College, Cambridge
Jesus College, Cambridge
Ethics and the Media in an Era of Complex Moral Challenge
Science and Human Dimension Project
23 February 2010
Jesus College, Cambridge
The Science & Human Dimension Project held a round-table workshop for an exchange of views on media coverage of ethical and religious issues, and to discuss the launch of a forum for ethics in the public space called Ethicscope. A constituency of leading journalists, ethicists and representatives of different faiths discussed the access, fairness, balance and quality of ethical perspectives in print, radio, TV, photojournalism and online media.
Our aim ultimately was to explore ways in which media practitioners at every level can develop and enhance their ethical insights and presentation of issues. This meeting occured at a time when the domains of politics, medical science, business, economics, the environment, social and human rights, face increasingly complex and unprecedented choices and judgments. At the same time, the world’s leading faiths are experiencing mounting challenges and scrutiny from secular and pluralist standpoints.
The proceedings of this meeting are available here.
Jesus College, Cambridge
The Science & Human Dimension Project held a round-table workshop for an exchange of views on media coverage of ethical and religious issues, and to discuss the launch of a forum for ethics in the public space called Ethicscope. A constituency of leading journalists, ethicists and representatives of different faiths discussed the access, fairness, balance and quality of ethical perspectives in print, radio, TV, photojournalism and online media.
Our aim ultimately was to explore ways in which media practitioners at every level can develop and enhance their ethical insights and presentation of issues. This meeting occured at a time when the domains of politics, medical science, business, economics, the environment, social and human rights, face increasingly complex and unprecedented choices and judgments. At the same time, the world’s leading faiths are experiencing mounting challenges and scrutiny from secular and pluralist standpoints.
The proceedings of this meeting are available here.
The Future of Democracy
Rustat Conference
13 October 2009
Jesus College, Cambridge
This Rustat Conference brought together some of the world's leading political theorists, historians and leaders from the worlds of politics, the media, industry and public sector to tackle the key issues at stake in the debate over the Future of Democracy.
The proceedings of this conference are published as a pdf here
Videos of the conference sessions are available in the Media Resources section
The proceedings are also available as an ebook by clicking on the title page below:
Future of Democracy - Proceedings of the second Rustat Conference
Jesus College, Cambridge
This Rustat Conference brought together some of the world's leading political theorists, historians and leaders from the worlds of politics, the media, industry and public sector to tackle the key issues at stake in the debate over the Future of Democracy.
The proceedings of this conference are published as a pdf here
Videos of the conference sessions are available in the Media Resources section
The proceedings are also available as an ebook by clicking on the title page below:
Future of Democracy - Proceedings of the second Rustat Conference
The Economic Crisis
Rustat Conference
9 May 2009
Jesus College, Cambridge
Leading academics from the fields of economics, politics, business and history discussed the key issues of the Economic Crisis with leaders from the worlds of politics, finance, industry, the public sector and the media.
To read the conference report click on the link below.
Jesus College, Cambridge
Leading academics from the fields of economics, politics, business and history discussed the key issues of the Economic Crisis with leaders from the worlds of politics, finance, industry, the public sector and the media.
To read the conference report click on the link below.
William Keegan on Boom and Bust
Coleridge Society Lecture
2009
God and the Philosophers
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 2008
Public interest in religious debate has recently been fed by a series of books of popular polemic against theism, religion and the discipline of theology itself. A small industry has grown up around these works - by authors such as Dawkins, Dennett and Hitchens. Philosophers, theologians convened to debate and reflect on their attitudes to religion and the status and sources of their various religious and spiritual sympathies, their secularism or agnosticism. Speakers included Sir Anthony Kenny, Michael McGhee, and Nicholas Lash.
Public interest in religious debate has recently been fed by a series of books of popular polemic against theism, religion and the discipline of theology itself. A small industry has grown up around these works - by authors such as Dawkins, Dennett and Hitchens. Philosophers, theologians convened to debate and reflect on their attitudes to religion and the status and sources of their various religious and spiritual sympathies, their secularism or agnosticism. Speakers included Sir Anthony Kenny, Michael McGhee, and Nicholas Lash.
George Steiner on the Two Cultures
Coleridge Society Lecture
2008
Ethics of Human Embryo Research
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 2007
Following the EU’s granting of funding for human embryonic stem cell research in July 2006, some declared the arguments and debate against it, over whilst others thought it had barely begun. The aim of this conference was to explore the meaning of the term soul within the Judaic-Christian tradition to test the strength of the Cartesian idea which is often taken for granted in the ethical debate: as in a human being is “ensouled” at the moment of conception.
Following the EU’s granting of funding for human embryonic stem cell research in July 2006, some declared the arguments and debate against it, over whilst others thought it had barely begun. The aim of this conference was to explore the meaning of the term soul within the Judaic-Christian tradition to test the strength of the Cartesian idea which is often taken for granted in the ethical debate: as in a human being is “ensouled” at the moment of conception.
Report on Media and Development in Africa: A Case Study based on North Kenya
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 2006
This conference explored the media coverage of development and aid in Africa. Senior Kenyan development workers discussed poverty, development and the media with specialists from NGOs, the Department for International Development, charities, development academics, and journalists.
This conference explored the media coverage of development and aid in Africa. Senior Kenyan development workers discussed poverty, development and the media with specialists from NGOs, the Department for International Development, charities, development academics, and journalists.
Creativity and Depression
Science and Human Dimension Project
Symposium 2005
There has long been a notion that creativity and imagination are associated with forms of depression and even psychosis. This conference explored a wide-ranging approach to the topic, including literary, historical, and psychiatric perspectives.
The discussion focused particularly on the way in which depression is reported in the media as well biographically and autobiographically.
There has long been a notion that creativity and imagination are associated with forms of depression and even psychosis. This conference explored a wide-ranging approach to the topic, including literary, historical, and psychiatric perspectives.
The discussion focused particularly on the way in which depression is reported in the media as well biographically and autobiographically.
The Anthropic Principle and the Multiverse
Science and Human Dimension Project
Debate 2007
Physicist and theologian John Polkinghorne and Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees, tackled the notion of the anthropic principle - the existence of numerical accidents in the Universe that were essential for the development of life.
Physicist and theologian John Polkinghorne and Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees, tackled the notion of the anthropic principle - the existence of numerical accidents in the Universe that were essential for the development of life.
Ben Pimlott on Political Biography
Coleridge Society Lecture
2002
“Copenhagen”: Science, War, and the Devil’s Pact
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 2002
The conference explored the ethics of science, using as a focus Michael Frayn’s play Copenhagen which was staged at the conference with Michael Frayn fielding questions. Mark Walker and Paul Lawrence Rose spoke directly to the German historical and biographical background of Heisenberg and Niels Bohr. Other speakers included Walter Gratzer, Lewis Wolpert, Henning Grunwald and John Naughton.
The conference explored the ethics of science, using as a focus Michael Frayn’s play Copenhagen which was staged at the conference with Michael Frayn fielding questions. Mark Walker and Paul Lawrence Rose spoke directly to the German historical and biographical background of Heisenberg and Niels Bohr. Other speakers included Walter Gratzer, Lewis Wolpert, Henning Grunwald and John Naughton.
Virtual Universities
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 2001
The growth in the use of the internet and related technologies for teaching and learning brought together a variety of distance and e-learning specialists from Europe, and the United States, working mainly in the fields of publishing and tertiary level education
The growth in the use of the internet and related technologies for teaching and learning brought together a variety of distance and e-learning specialists from Europe, and the United States, working mainly in the fields of publishing and tertiary level education
Rosemary Hill on Pugin
Coleridge Society Lecture
2000
Explanations: Styles of Explanation in Science
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 2000
This meeting brought together philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, and anthropologists to discuss why explanations work, why they vary between disciplines, periods, and cultures, and to discover whether they have any necessary boundaries. The issues engaged the keen interest of the participants from the media, for it is in journalism that the notion of an explanation is often misused or misunderstood. Speakers included Peter Atkins, Sir Martin Rees, Peter Lipton, Colin McGinn and Juliet Mitchell.
This meeting brought together philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, and anthropologists to discuss why explanations work, why they vary between disciplines, periods, and cultures, and to discover whether they have any necessary boundaries. The issues engaged the keen interest of the participants from the media, for it is in journalism that the notion of an explanation is often misused or misunderstood. Speakers included Peter Atkins, Sir Martin Rees, Peter Lipton, Colin McGinn and Juliet Mitchell.
Marina Warner on Fairy Tales
Coleridge Society Lecture
1999
A.N. Wilson on the Real Jesus
Coleridge Society Lecture
1998
Consciousness and Human Identity
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 1997
Consciousness has puzzled philosophers, naturalists, and theologians down the ages. Now it has caught the interest of contemporary scientists, some of whom believe they are on the brink of discovering its basis in neurobiological processes. This meeting of neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, theologians and novelists, discussed the prospects and consequences for finding a scientific explanation of consciousness. Speakers included Margaret Boden, John Searle, Steven Rose, Mary Midgely, Jeremy Butterfield, Peter Lipton and David Lodge.
Consciousness has puzzled philosophers, naturalists, and theologians down the ages. Now it has caught the interest of contemporary scientists, some of whom believe they are on the brink of discovering its basis in neurobiological processes. This meeting of neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, theologians and novelists, discussed the prospects and consequences for finding a scientific explanation of consciousness. Speakers included Margaret Boden, John Searle, Steven Rose, Mary Midgely, Jeremy Butterfield, Peter Lipton and David Lodge.
Eamon Duffy on the Reformation
Coleridge Society Lecture
1996
The Next Generation
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 1996
The Science and Human Dimension Project brought twenty four young scientists together to discuss the future of their disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, computer science, and medicine.This meeting was supported by Wellcome Trust, Chiroscience Ltd, and the New Scientist.
The Science and Human Dimension Project brought twenty four young scientists together to discuss the future of their disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, computer science, and medicine.This meeting was supported by Wellcome Trust, Chiroscience Ltd, and the New Scientist.
David Willey on Pope John Paul II
Coleridge Society Lecture
1995
Science and the Media
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 1995
This specialist forum for participants from the science media was convened to discuss current issues of interest and concern. Speakers included Nigel Hawkes of The Times, John Maddox of Nature, Ravi Mirchandani of Penguin¸ Alun Anderson of the New Scientist and Duncan Dallas of Café Scientifique. The meeting was sponsored by Nature.
This specialist forum for participants from the science media was convened to discuss current issues of interest and concern. Speakers included Nigel Hawkes of The Times, John Maddox of Nature, Ravi Mirchandani of Penguin¸ Alun Anderson of the New Scientist and Duncan Dallas of Café Scientifique. The meeting was sponsored by Nature.
Brian Appleyard on the Fallacies of Science
Coleridge Society Lecture
1994
Plato and Mathematics
Science and Human Dimension Project
Symposium 1994
Logicians and philosophers of mathematics discussed the mathematical Platonism with Penelope Maddy, Michael Redhead, Tim Smiley, Jeremy Butterfield, and Peter Smith. Is mathematics created by the mind or does it have an extra-mental existence, and what are the implications for philosophy?
Logicians and philosophers of mathematics discussed the mathematical Platonism with Penelope Maddy, Michael Redhead, Tim Smiley, Jeremy Butterfield, and Peter Smith. Is mathematics created by the mind or does it have an extra-mental existence, and what are the implications for philosophy?
Sir Francis Crick on Scientific Search for the Soul
Science and Human Dimension Project
Lecture 1994
Nobel Prize winner Sir Francis Crick discussed his book The Astonishing Hypothesis in which he argues that explanations for human higher order consciousness are best studied from the “bottom up”.
Nobel Prize winner Sir Francis Crick discussed his book The Astonishing Hypothesis in which he argues that explanations for human higher order consciousness are best studied from the “bottom up”.
Rupert Sheldrake on Science and Nature
Coleridge Society Lecture
1993
Mathematical Education
Science and Human Dimension Project
Symposium 1993
A group of world-class mathematicians, scientists, and professors of mathematical education explored the role of mathematics in different academic disciplines.
A group of world-class mathematicians, scientists, and professors of mathematical education explored the role of mathematics in different academic disciplines.
Chris Isham on Quantum Physics
Coleridge Society Lecture
1992
Neal Ascherson on Eastern Europe
Coleridge Society Lecture
1990
Reductionism’s Primacy in the Natural Sciences
Science and Human Dimension Project
Conference 1992
This conference brought together world class neuroscientists, mathematicians, physicists, philosophers, psychiatrists, biologists, engineers, publishers and journalists to discuss to what extent reductionist method is shaping, and “reducing”, psychology, social studies, and even the humanities? Speakers included Nobel Prize Winner Gerald Edelman, Oliver Sacks, Freeman Dyson, Roger Penrose, John D Barrow, Paul M. Churchland, Patricia Churchland, Mary Midgely, and Peter Atkins.
This conference brought together world class neuroscientists, mathematicians, physicists, philosophers, psychiatrists, biologists, engineers, publishers and journalists to discuss to what extent reductionist method is shaping, and “reducing”, psychology, social studies, and even the humanities? Speakers included Nobel Prize Winner Gerald Edelman, Oliver Sacks, Freeman Dyson, Roger Penrose, John D Barrow, Paul M. Churchland, Patricia Churchland, Mary Midgely, and Peter Atkins.
Dr Montu Saxena, Jesus College, Cambridge
Brandon Davies, Director, Gatehouse Bank
Dr Christopher Catherwood, historian and author, Cambridge University
Andrew Gamble, Professor of Politics and Head of Department, Cambridge University
Professor George Brock, former Foreign Editor, The Times, and Head of School of Journalism, City University
The Future of Democracy Conference, October 2009 - Dr Christopher Catherwood, Cambridge Univeristy, and Professor Jean Seaton, University of Westminster
Dr Michael Banner, Dean, Trinity College, Cambridge and Professor Veronique Mottier, Jesus College, Cambridge