minds & machines
In partnership with the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, NJ we are offering academically motivated Michigan High School students in grades 10, 11 or 12 an opportunity to participate in the Witherspoon Forum, a series of virtual seminars designed to help you reflect on foundational questions of human existence that are also highly relevant to our society. The Forum’s 2024-2025 theme is “Minds and Machines.”
Throughout the academic year, we will reflect on the most pressing philosophical and theological questions arising from life in a technological society. We will explore how new technologies are reshaping our ideas about God, humanity, and the cosmos, and what a humanistic response might look like. We will bring key thinkers and ideas from philosophical and religious traditions into dialogue with contemporary debates in ethics, politics, and culture. What does it mean to be human in a scientific and technological age? How might we order our souls and organize our society?
Successful applicants should be ready and eager to participate in discussions of the common themes of their seminars. No grades will be given. No familiarity with the subject matter is expected.
We want lively conversation and careful reflection on the big questions that you will soon need to engage at the college of your choice. And hopefully you'll also discover just how important intellectual friendships will be during your college experience!
If accepted, students commit to attending these seminars. Those who attend three or more seminars throughout the year will be recognized as Witherspoon Scholars. They will also receive priority consideration for the Witherspoon Institute’s week-long, summer seminar in Princeton, Moral Life and the Classical Tradition.
Genetic engineEring & HumAn Nature
October 8, 15 & 22, 2024
7:00PM EST
Genetic Engineering and Human Nature – Dr. Janet Madigan
Dates TBD
The Surveillance State and Society – Dr. Luke Foster
Dates TBD
DATES TBD
Transhumanism and Death – Dr. Charles RubinDates TBD