A place for curious minds, bold ideas and brave discussions, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas returns to Carriageworks this August.
UNSW has been a long-time partner of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas (FODI), sharing a vision for fostering thought-provoking discussion on emerging challenges. In 2024, the festival offers a weekend of provocative and inspiring talks, panels, performances and workshops featuring UNSW academics and researchers, under the theme ‘Sanctuary’.
Topics this year don’t stray far from what has kept us glued to news media headlines: technology, money, healthcare and social unrest. Social media, smartphone use and the rise of teen suicide will be examined by psychologist Professor Jean Twenge (San Diego State University) and UNSW’s Professor Verity Firth in in The Machines Killing Our Kids.
Artificial Intelligence, our adoption of multiple identities and the dangers of the metaverse have been topics of heated debate. Lizzie O'Shea, Associate Professor Patrick Stokes (Deakin University), Dr Emily van der Nagel (Monash University) and UNSW’s Scientia Professor Rob Brooks dive into this discussion and the cost of leaving the physical world behind in Counterfeit People.
The exploration of AI, easily the year’s most used and most Googled phrase, continues when Brigitte Gerstl (Program Manager for the uterus transplant program at the Royal Hospital for Women), Associate Professor Luara Ferracioli (University of Sydney) and Dr Mianna Lotz (Macquarie University) breakdown the impact of AI on medicine. Is the emergence of artificial wombs and womb transplants a ‘boon’ or a ‘bane’ for women? Explore the transformative possibilities for reproductive autonomy that could redefine the very essence of motherhood in Ending the ‘Tyranny’ of Pregnancy.
Economists Professor John N. Freidman (Brown University) and Professor Richard Holden (UNSW) tackle money, the cost of living and inequality head on in The Fading Dream in an effort to reverse the trend and revive a fading American Dream of progress and social mobility.
In the Inhuman Condition, broaden your horizons and get comfortable with the uncomfortable as Associate Professor Michael Richardson (UNSW), Professor Bronwyn Graham (UNSW), Dr Megan Evans (UNSW), Scientia Professor Toby Walsh (UNSW) and Benjamin Law guide you to uncover new perspectives.
And finally, join us for the exclusive UNSW Kensington on campus event, The Generation Gulf. The breakneck speed of cultural change means that growing up today is a completely different experience from growing up in the 1950s, or the 1980s, or even the 2000s. Psychologist and author Prof. Jean Twenge (San Diego State University), geriatrician Dr Stephanie Ward (UNSW) and co-founder of The Daily Aus Sam Koslowski will discuss what is driving these changes and where the widening generation gap could take us as a society.
In an era of mis- and disinformation, FODI encourages audiences to dig deeper and seek the truth. What are the truly dangerous ideas and where exactly should we focus our attention?
For more information, including the full program, head to festivalofdangerousideas.com
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