The University Roundtable at the University of Minnesota started in 2014 and has hosted speakers like molecular biologist Denis Alexander (Cambridge University, UK), political theorist Patrick Deneen (Notre Dame), neurobiologist William Hurlbut (Stanford), climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe (Texas Tech University), theologian Miroslav Volf (Yale), physicist Stephen Barr (University of Delaware), sociologist Elaine Ecklund (Rice University), philosopher Meghan Sullivan (Notre Dame), and neuroscientist Bill Newsome (Stanford). We are part of a larger network of University Roundtables that began in 2002 and have since hosted thousands of faculty members at Harvard, MIT, Yale, Brown, and other universities.
the kind of night that should be the norm in academia — serious conversation among smart people about contested issues, with pretty much everyone who spoke and counter-spoke both witty and civil.
– Harry Lewis, former Dean of Harvard College
The goal of a University Roundtable is to foster cross-disciplinary community and dialogue among faculty that explores the intersection of current scholarship with various ethical, worldview, and religious or non-religious perspectives. The former Dean of Harvard College, Harry Lewis, commented that Roundtables are “the kind of night that should be the norm in academia — serious conversation among smart people about contested issues, with pretty much everyone who spoke and counter-spoke both witty and civil.” Our hope is that these interactions will spark innovative new approaches to a diverse set of academic and personal questions. Ideally, conversations begun at University Roundtable dinners will continue in classrooms, seminars, discussion groups, coffee shops, and in every corner of the Twin Cities.
Roundtables are in-person events at a venue on or close to campus. The event includes dinner, drinks, dessert, centered around substantial table discussion after brief remarks from our presenters. At the close of our evening, we include time for questions and comments directed to each other and to our presenters. The Roundtables are invite-only events, please let us know if you would like to be considered as a participant.
Some past University Roundtables have been made possible by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries related to the big questions of human purpose and ultimate reality. Additional funding has been provided by generous scholars and donors invested in seeing the University engage with the big questions.
A Conversation with Dr. Satyan Devadoss and Dr. Constantin Aliferis (Director of the Institute for Health Informatics and Chief Research Informatics Officer at the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, UMN)
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 – Anselm House will host a Roundtable with Dr. Satyan Devadoss (Mathematics, University of San Diego) and Dr. Constantin Aliferis (Director of the Institute for Health Informatics, UMN) on whether human-machine partnerships (e.g. AI, but also other tools) make us less human.
Interested? Are you a faculty or academic staff at the University of Minnesota? Click the button below to be put on the invite list.