For Release: March 24, 2016 Press Contact: Abi Behar Montefiore 520-247-5785 - [email protected]
Final 2016 Conference Program The Science of Consciousness April 25-30, 2016, Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Tucson, Arizona
“To have a glimpse of what consciousness is would be the scientific achievement before which all others would pale.” - William James
Newswise — After 23 years, the seminal conference 'Toward a Science of Consciousness' is now simply 'The Science of Consciousness'. But as consciousness cannot be observed, scientifically explained, nor commonly defined, is there now truly a 'Science of Consciousness'? Are we there yet? We do have essential questions. Is the brain a computer? Does it process or generate conscious information as output? When, where, and how did consciousness evolve? Can we have free will, or are we just 'along for the ride'? Will consciousness be reproduced through brain mapping, transhumanism and/or artificial intelligence? Or, does the brain 'tune into' and organize consciousness or its precursors existing naturally in the universe? What are the implications of either view on the nature of existence, and treatment of mental and cognitive disorders?
These and many other questions will be debated in a week-long gathering of 800 to 900 scientists, philosophers, artists, meditators and interested people from 50 countries at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, a luxurious eco-lodge in the mountains just north of Tucson, Arizona. The program will consist of Pre-Conference Workshops, Plenary talks, Concurrent talks, Posters and Exhibits, Social Events and Entertainment.
Sponsored by Center for Consciousness Studies, The University of Arizona Center for Consciousness Science, The University of Michigan
Important Links Conference Trailer Video Link Conference Website Registration Link
General Conference Sessions
PLENARY Program Link to Plenary Abstracts Speaker Bios-click on photos TUESDAY, April 26, 2016 2:00 pm to 4:10 pm PL 1 -Five Roads to Consciousness (1) Stanislas Dehaene, NSERM-CEA, Paris Anil K. Seth, University of Sussex, Brighton Stuart Hameroff, University of Arizona, CCS, Tucson
WEDNESDAY, April 27, 2016 8:30 am to 10:40 am PL 2 - Brain Biology Rudolph Tanzi, Harvard Medical School, Boston Selen Atasoy, Brain and Cognition, UPF, Barcelona Anirban Bandyopadhyay, NIMS, Tsukuba
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016 11:10 am to 12:30 pm PL 3 - Consciousness and Reality Deepak Chopra, Chopra Foundation, UCSD David Chalmers, Australian National University, NYU
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016 2:00pm to 4:10 pm PL 4 - Five Roads to Consciousness (2) Naotsugu Tsuchiya, Monash University, Melbourne Richard Brown, CUNY, Laguardia College, New York Jakob Hohwy, Monash University, Melbourne
THURSDAY, April 28, 2016 8:30 am to 10:40 am PL 5 - Conscious Intention and Free Will Aaron Schurger, École Polytechnique Fédérale, Lausanne Panel – Time, Free Will and the Brain Ruth Kastner, University of Maryland Daniel Sheehan, University of San Diego Ron Gruber, Stanford University Martin Nowakowski, Gdansk University Matti Vuorre, Columbia University Julia Mossbridge, IONS
THURSDAY, April 28, 2016 11:10 am to 12:30 pm PL 6 - AI/Machine Consciousness Hartmut Neven, Google Christian Szegedy, Google
FRIDAY, April 29, 2016 8:30 am to 10:40 am PL 7 - Quantum Approaches 1 Henry Stapp, UC-Berkeley Kelvin McQueen, University of Tel Aviv Alyssa Ney, UC-Davis
FRIDAY, April 29, 2016 11:10 am to 12:30 pm PL 8 - Evolution and Consciousness Terrence W. Deacon, UC-Berkeley Katherine T. Peil, Northeastern U, Boston
FRIDAY, April 29, 2016 2:00 pm to 4:10 pm PL 9 - 'Pribram Session' – Brain Dynamics Anthony Hudetz, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Walter J. Freeman, UC-Berkeley György Buzsáki, NYU Neuroscience Inst, NYC
SATURDAY, April 30, 2016 8:30 am to 10:40 am PL 10 - Scale and Connectivity Alison Gopnik, UC-Berkeley Robin Carhart Harris, Imperial College, London Martin Monti, Psychology, UCLA
SATURDAY, April 30, 2016 11:10 am to 12:30 pm PL 11 - Quantum Approaches 2 Dean Radin, IONS, Petaluma Stuart Kauffman, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle
SATURDAY, April 30, 2016 2:00 pm to 4:10 pm PL 12 - NCC 3 -Anomalous Conscious Experience George Mashour, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Jimo Borjigin, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Peter Fenwick, Kings College, Southampton
CONCURRENT SESSIONS Tuesday April 26, Wednesday April 27, Friday April 29 5:00 to 7:30 pm Link to Concurrent Abstracts Concurrent Sessions C1-C8 Tuesday April 26, 2016 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm C1 Knowledge Argument, Explanatory Gap and Conceivability C2 Panpsychism, Idealism and Metaphysics 1 C3 Agency and Mental Causation C4 Neural Correlate Of Consciousness (NCC) I C5 Quantum Approaches C6 Time and Consciousness C7 Psi and Non-Locality C8 Meditation and Technology Concurrent Sessions (C9-C16) Wednesday April 27, 2016 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM C9 Phenomenal Consciousness C10 Panpsychism, Idealism and Metaphysics 2 C11 Agency and Free Will C12 The Extended Mind C13 Neural Correlates of Consciousness 2 C14 Vibrations, Scale and Topology C15 Cellular and Intra-Cellular Processes C16 Meditation 2
Concurrent Sessions (C17-C24) Friday April 29, 2016 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM C17 Metacognition and Agency C18 Panpsychism, Idealism and Metaphysics 3 C19 Unity and Self C20 Ketamine and Anesthetics C21 Sleep and Dreaming C22 Machine Consciousness C23 Quantum Biology C24 Arts and Entertainment
POSTER SESSIONS Poster Session 1 Wednesday April 27, 7:00 - 10:00 pm Poster Session 2 Friday April 29, 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Link to Poster Abstracts ART/TECH/HEALTH EXHIBITS Session 1 Wednesday April 27- 7:00-10:00pm Session 2 Friday April 29 - 7:00-10:00pm Art-Tech Design, Health Technology Exhibits and Vendors
SOCIAL EVENTS • Club Consciousness / Hospitality Suite - Monday-Thursday 10:00 pm-midnight • Welcome Reception - Tuesday April 26, 7:00-10:00 pm • Dinner Under The Stars - Thursday April 28, 7:00-10:00 pm – optional • Poetry Slam/Zombie Blues/Talent Show - Friday April 29, 10:00 pm to midnight • 'End of Consciousness' Party - Saturday, April 30, 8:00 pm to??
Consciousness Central TV Daily roundup with speakers, guests, commentators and fun from The Science of Consciousness Conference, hosted by Nick Day and Cameron Keys
Pre-Conference Workshops April 25 and 26 (Optional) Workshop Descriptions and Speaker Bios – here
Monday-Saturday daily sessions 7:00 am – 8:00 am Tenniscentric Approach to Consciousness Thursday, April 28 Tournament 3:00 pm
Full Day East-West Forum Sponsored by Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra Monday April 25, 9:00am to 5:00pm The East-West Forum is now a familiar feature at the TSC series of conferences, starting with TSC 2012 at Tucson, TSC 2r013 at DEI, Dayalbagh, India, TSC 2014 at Tucson again, and TSC 2015 at Helsinki, Finland. The Fifth East-West Forum at TSC 2016 will be yet another landmark integration effort as part of the TSC-series. The above quote rather prophetically captures these momentous events, when not just two strong men from East and West stand face to face, but in fact, two galaxies of strong men and women from East and West meet at Tucson, Arizona (USA) and Dayalbagh, Agra (India) also through video-conferencing.
Pre-Conference Workshops-Link to Descriptions
Monday Morning, April 25, 2016 9:00am-1:00pm Consciousness versus Attention PSI Research and Consciousness Consciousness, Memory and Music Curriculum for Consciousness Studies DEI East-West Forum full day Kant and the Conscious Mind-Salon Altered State Healing in the Amazon Quantum Biology - Nature of Life
Monday Afternoon, April 25, 2016 2:00pm-6:00pm Consciousness in Animals Consciousness and the Arts, I Designing a Conscious Robot DEI East-West Forum, II Naturalizing the Conscious Mind? Transformative Technology Unity of Consciousness
Monday Evening, April 25, 2016 7:30pm-10:00pm Super Genes – Can Consciousness Guide Evolution? (Deepak Chopra, Rudy Tanzi)
Tuesday Morning, April 26, 2016 9:00am-1:00pm Anesthesia Research and Consciousness Complexity and Consciousness Consciousness and the Arts II Hot Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience First Person-Third Person Perspectives Philosophical Theories of Consciousness Quantum AI and Machine Consciousness Walter Freeman Festschrift
Conference Opening Tuesday April 26 1:45 Kiva
Co-Sponsors The Center for Consciousness Studies, The University of Arizona The Center for Consciousness Science, The University of Michigan
Additional Sponsors Dennis Balson Mani Bhaumik The Chopra Foundation Crystal Globe, Shanghai Alvin J. Clark Ron Gruber Irwin Klee, Quantum Gravity Research Sofia University Yet-A-Del Foundation
Technology Exhibitors Dream Weaver Neuroelectrics SoundsSelf Starlab TruPhone Quantum Gravity Research
Additional Exhibitors JCS/Imprint Academic CCS TUS Study Erfan Keyhani (Halgheh)
Additional Cooperating Organizations Center for Consciousness Studies, University of Arizona, TUS Study College of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Arizona UA Departments of Psychology, Cognitive Science Program, Philosophy Dayalbagh Educational Institute Journal of Consciousness Studies – Imprint Academic Society for Mind-Matter Research Consciousness Central TV Swiss Biennial on Science, Technics + Aesthetics Human-Animal Interaction Research Initiative Transformative Technology Lab Planetary Science Institute
Advertising Support Journal of Consciousness Studies American Psychological Association
Prizes Harmony Books /Penguin Random House HEAD Penn OPRC KCUT Whole Foods Tucson
Music Dorian Electra and the Electrodes Michael P and the Gully Washers Timbre Wolf
A/V Commotion Studios
Program Committee Stuart Hameroff, Co-Chair, University of Arizona George Mashour, Co-Chair, University of Michigan Abi Behar-Montefiore, CCS, University of Arizona Harald Atmanspacher, ETH Zurich Brit Brogaard, University of Miami Hakwan Lau, University of California at Los Angeles Paavo Pylkkanen, Universities of Helsinki and Skovde Jay Sanguinetti, University of Arizona Marilyn Schlitz, Worldview Enterprises; IONS Gino Yu, Hong Kong, Polytechnic Univ; SME Creativity Center
Press Contact: [email protected] Attn.: Abi Behar Montefiore
The Center for Consciousness Studies – Since 1994 The Science of Consciousness (TSC) is the largest and longest-running interdisciplinary conference emphasizing broad and rigorous approaches to conscious awareness, the nature of existence and our place in the universe. TSC brings together perspectives, orientations and methodologies from neuroscience, philosophy, medicine, quantum physics, cosmology, biology, psychology, anthropology, artificial intelligence, technology, contemplative and experiential traditions, the arts, culture, humanities and others. Cutting edge, controversial issues are emphasized.
TSC 2016 marks the 23rd annual TSC Conference and we are thrilled to return to Loews Ventana Canyon. The TSC conferences are held in Tucson biennially since 1994, and co-sponsored TSC conferences occur elsewhere around the world in odd-numbered years, most recently in Helsinki, Finland in June 2015, organized by Paavo Pylkkanen, The University of Helsinki, and Skovde University, Sweden. Next year, the 24th conference, TSC 2017, will be held in Shanghai, China, co-sponsored by Crystal Globe, Shanghai, China. TSC 2016 and future TSC conferences are co-sponsored and organized by the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the Center for Consciousness Science, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
History of TSC The first TSC conference was held in 1994 in DuVal Auditorium at the University of Arizona Medical Center, and subsequently elsewhere in Tucson in even-numbered years. These have alternated with co-sponsored international TSC conferences in various locations around the world in odd-numbered years. The Center for Consciousness Studies (CCS) at the University of Arizona was established in 1998 by the Arizona Board of Regents. TSC and CCS are due to the work over the years of Al Kaszniak, David Chalmers, Jim Laukes, Jay Sanguinetti, Stuart Hameroff and the late Alwyn Scott, a co-founder of CCS. Since 2007, CCS and TSC have been successfully managed by Abi Behar-Montefiore, subsisting entirely on TSC conference registration fees and sponsorships. CCS is hosted in the Department of Anesthesiology in the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and Banner-University Medical Center.
Thank you to our international colleagues and friends who helped make TSC alternate year conferences possible: 1995 Ischia, Italy; Chloe Taddei-Ferretti 1997 Elsinore, Denmark; LO Skolen, Alwyn Scott 1999 Tokyo, Japan; UN University, Mari Jibu, Kunio Yasue 2001 Skovde, Sweden; University of Skovde, Paavo Pylkkanen 2003 Prague, Czech Republic; Ivan Havel 2005 Copenhagen, Denmark; Morten Overgard 2007 Budapest, Hungary; George Kampis 2009 Hong Kong, China; Hong Kong Polytechnic, Gino Yu 2011 Stockholm, Sweden; Christer Perfjell 2013 Agra, India; Rev. Prof. PS. Satsangi; Vishal Sahni 2015 Helsinki, Finland; University of Finland, Paavo Pylkkanen 2017 Shanghai, China - tba
Conference Website www.consciousness.arizona.edu
RSS