Roundtables: 2015

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Our roundtable format is designated the Theaetetus Table, an extempore discussion among five participants, all leaders in their respective fields, and named for the classical Greek mathematician and eponym for the Platonic dialogue investigating the nature of knowledge, who proved that there are five regular convex polyhedra, or Platonic solids. Each Theaetetus Table aspires to emulate the dialogue’s unhurried search for wisdom; and, like the five Platonic solids held to be the fundamental building blocks of the classical elements, the contributions of our five participants become the fundamental constituents of interdisciplinary insights emerging in the alchemy of the roundtable, insights that, in turn, transform the elemental thinking of those participants. The gathering of five discussants also symbolizes the five interrelated qualities of mind our interdisciplinary forums are intended to facilitate in our participants, and inculcate in our audience: curiosity, playfulness, inspiration, reflection, and wonder.

Sat
Nov 7th
2015
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Speak, Memory

This roundtable will examine how advances in memory research can deepen our understanding of the role memory plays in normal development and in shaping lived experience, while also informing efforts to address memory impairment in an aging population. It will further consider how dialogue between scientific researchers and practitioners of memory can foster mutual insights into the mechanisms, limits, and cultivation of memory across contexts.
Sat
Dec 5th
2015
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A Freudian Perspective on What Ails the World Today

This colloquium, organized by the Helix Center and ADAPes Freud Committee, brings together psychoanalysts, scholars, and cultural and political figures to engage in roundtable discussions on identity formation, education and the pursuit of knowledge, and the role of knowledge in addressing religious and nationalist extremism. Drawing on Freudian thought, the event examines how modern crises of identity, secularization, and globalizing consumerism intersect with tensions between individual desire, collective belonging, and social cohesion. It further considers the limits of education, the dynamics of mass psychology, and the distinction between open civic structures and closed systems such as nation and religion. Across these themes, the colloquium seeks to reflect on how psychoanalytic perspectives might help interpret contemporary social malaise and contribute to a renewed commitment to reason, humanism, and cosmopolitan values.

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