EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: WINTER INSTITUTE

'Techne and the Human Sciences in the 21st Century'

7—10 JANUARY 2025

The University of Tokyo, Japan

About:
The Winter Institute is an annual collaboration between ANU, the University of Tokyo, New York University and the University of Bonn. The Institute involves a 3-day seminar program on an interdisciplinary theme. The program involves keynote lectures, faculty papers and graduate student presentations including crossdisciplinary questioning. The Institute also includes social and networking events for delegates.

ANU Delegation:
The ANU Australian Studies Institute (AuSI) is offering four delegate positions to the 2025 Winter Institute. Two places will be on offer for ANU PhD candidates and two places for ANU early career academic staff.

Applications are encouraged from all disciplinary and interdisciplinary backgrounds. Participants will be expected to present a short paper (15 minutes) and participate in Institute forums and discussions. Upon return participants will be required to give their presentation at a follow-up symposium at ANU at a date to be set. This will provide an opportunity to reflect on how the discussion in Tokyo has further shaped their thinking on the issue.

Benefits:
AuSI will cover the cost of return flights to the Institute to the value of AUD$1,500. The University of Tokyo will provide accommodation and main meals during the Institute.

EOI Process:
Applicants will need to submit the following as part of the EOI process:

• A statement outlining your proposed paper and how it will address the subject of the Winter Institute including details of a proposed journal(s) for publication of your Winter Institute paper
• Bio and CV
• Written approval from your supervisor, or Head of school or college supporting your attendance at the Institute

Completed EOIs should be sent to:
admin.ausi@anu.edu.au by Midnight (AEST) Wednesday 13 November 2024.

Selected scholars should expect to be notified within seven days. Awards are provisional on the basis that the flights are booked via CTM by 26 November 2024.

2025 Theme: 'Techne and the Human Sciences in the 21st Century'

The OED tells us that in Greek philosophy techne was a word to describe an ‘art, skill, or craft; a technique, principle, or method by which something is achieved’. The word was not used in English until the 1890s but by that time the sense of positivity in it had been encapsulated in a noun first used in 17th century: technology. In the 1950s Melvin Kranzberg articulated his famous first law: technology is neither good nor bad it is neutral. How do we see it now? What will be the impact of techne/technology on the human sciences in the 21st century?