A Summer Like No Other
In 2018, the FPR created the CMB network to support our colleagues, who see their objects of study a bit differently, more expansively. Creative thoughts and ideas linking culture, mind, and brain flowed through our inaugural network meeting in January, followed by the rapid emergence of Covid and “a shift off the axis.” Fortunately, the space for vital discussion and cross-disciplinary (online) collaboration remains open!
We are pleased to announce that we are featuring two events in the coming week: The first of our focused discussions on Wednesday, August 5 (11am PT / 2pm ET / 8pm CET / 4am AET) takes up the theme of “The New Normal” to explore ideas and perspectives on compelling challenges and opportunities, and how we might address them. Sam Vessière and Daniel Lende will moderate the one-hour discussion. Meanwhile, Carol Worthman has sketched out some thoughts to help orient us:
The profound challenges of our present moment offer correspondingly unique opportunities for long-deferred, urgently needed changes in human behavior and related sociostructural arrangements. The ramifying effects of the pandemic appear so profound and unprecedented as to create the sense of a watershed moment of irrevocable change. Yet the destabilizing ruptures across virtually all societal sectors (e.g., economy, education, healthcare, politics) are tethered to pre-existing faultlines produced by cumulative human actions and inactions. Therefore, the social and other sciences as well as humanities can play essential roles in imagining and pursuing pathways for change with corresponding shifts in narratives and meanings whereby we may actually improve human welfare, cultivate diversity, advance equity, and lighten the human footprint on our Earth. Given our intellectual diversity and integrative perspectives, our network would appear to be particularly well positioned to creatively take on these challenges.
The second event is a “media check-in” on Friday, August 7 (11am PT / 2pm ET / 8pm CET / 4am AET) for CMB members who submitted letters of intent and received honoraria to participate in our media project. You can read a summary of the nine projects here.
