The Play’s the Thing

Is there an “inner self”? This roundtable approaches human interiority as a problem—not an obstacle, but a complex of questions at the limits of religion, philosophy, literature, and technology.

This roundtable explores the creation and production of old and new plays — writing, directing, performing, and reviewing — and what those crafts share when a work moves from the page to the stage.

This roundtable explores the tension between the physics-based view of time—which explains its directional arrow through cosmic entropy and statistical mechanics—and the human experience of time as a continuous, fluid flow championed by philosophers like Henri Bergson. By juxtaposing these scientific and intuitive perspectives, the panel seeks a potential cross-disciplinary synthesis that unites psychologists, physicists, mathematicians, and philosophers.

This roundtable explores the power of words across brain development, medicine, and community, while highlighting the importance of critical thinking in the age of AI and screens.

This roundtable examines how AI is transforming medicine, from genomic modeling to clinical tools used in healthcare systems. It focuses on challenges of trust, evidence, and equity, including how to evaluate AI, ensure fairness, and responsibly integrate data-driven decisions into patient care.

This roundtable explores how traditional intellectual movements and paradigms have fragmented in the postmodern era, challenging the idea of coherent disciplinary progress. It considers how the internet, social fragmentation, and AI are reshaping how knowledge is organized, produced, and understood.

This roundtable explores the motivations and purposes behind writing, challenging the idea that words simply convey facts. It examines how writing can express ambiguity, emotion, intention, and persuasion, shaping both meaning and experience.

This roundtable explores the meaning and value of failure, examining whether persistence leads to growth, success, or its own kind of reward. It considers how cultural, psychological, and philosophical perspectives frame failure as an essential part of the human experience.

This roundtable explores how memory, neuroscience, and storytelling intersect, highlighting memory as a dynamic process that shapes identity, healing, and self-understanding. It examines how art and science together can help us reinterpret and reshape our personal narratives.

This roundtable explores the resurgence of psychoanalysis, examining its enduring appeal despite scientific criticism and changing therapeutic practices. It considers how Freudian ideas continue to influence therapy, the humanities, and contemporary debates in the age of AI.