Complex Systems Speaker and Seminar Series

October 4, 2013

Drs. Mara Kimmel & Dianne Hirshberg. Institute for Social and Economic Research.

Governance and Resilience in Northern Communities: Complex systems for complicated times.

Abstract:

Alaska has extraordinarily complex governance systems. In any one community, multiple forms of government may exist: a traditional council, an IRA council, a municipality, a borough, a REAA, a village corporation, a regional corporation, and of course, the state and federal governments. In addition, Alaska’s unique geography subjects us to international laws in ways unparalleled throughout the U.S.

Social and natural scientists working throughout Alaska are increasingly focused on how to create resilient communities capable of navigating the tremendous environmental and economic changes we face. One of the missing pieces of the discussion, however, is the issue of governance. Put simply, governance means the ability of communities to control their own fate. More complex, however, are factors that define the scope of governance which include legal regimes, political organizations, social networks, all of which create a complex system of interdependence.

This presentation will provide an overview of a northern governance project we are developing which has the goal of situating the UA system at the heart of northern governance studies. This EPSCoR funded research first identifies who is working on community governance throughout the UA system and seeks to identify the gaps in this research. This project will lay a foundation for better engaging relevant stakeholders throughout Alaska directly in research on governance issues. Finally, we hope and anticipate the research will be relevant to future public policy development.

October 11, 2013

Dr. Paula Williams. Office of Sustainability.

The role of social paradigms in resilience to change and their implication to the environment.

Abstract:

The role of social paradigms in resilience to change is poorly understood. Past research suggests that social paradigms shape human values through socialization, and alter an individual¹s attentiveness to information. Thus, there is a relationship among personal cognition, the objective environment, social paradigm, and human behavior. My research suggests that our social paradigm affects perception of and response to environmental change, hence human adaptive capacity.

Our paradigm encourages separation from and commodification of the biophysical environment. Other paradigms foster links between humans and their environment and also serve the purpose of incorporating ritual, myth and story-telling to conform human behavior to the limits of the biophysical environment rather than conforming the biophysical environment to human desires.

Accurate perception of environmental feedback and appropriate responses to change increase resilience. This work suggests that the currently predominant social paradigm may reduce our resilience by impairing our perception of change and our willingness to adapt, whereas paradigms that foster links may be more able and willing to adapt because they are better able to perceive change.

October 17-18, 2013

Dr. David Krakauer. University of Wisconsin.

The evolution of intelligence

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17

7 p.m. ARTS 150

Abstract:

The Past, Present, and Future of Intelligence on Planet Earth

What is intelligence, where does it come from, and why does it appear to be so rare in the known universe? In this talk I shall provide an overview of our historical attempts to explain, define, and improve our intelligence. I shall explore the extraordinary and diverse forms of intelligence across life on earth, and consider the future of intelligence - the extended mind - in an age of increasing dependence upon machines. If the extended mind is the universes’s way of understanding itself, what will this cosmological self-awareness produce?

October 25, 2013.

Dr. Andreas Tziolas. Department of Physics.

Icarus Interstellar

Abstract:

Icarus Interstellar is a non-profit research organization dedicated to achieving interstellar flight as soon as is technically feasible. In this talk I will discuss the motivations and history of the organization, the scientific and technical obstacles which need to be overcome for robotic and human space flight to be undertaken. What technical progress can a volunteer organization make towards designing interstellar precursor missions, which would lead to human migration spacecraft capable of colonizing nearby star systems? What does humanity gain while working towards the goal of Building A Starship?

November 1, 2013.

Nathan Shafer. Artist.

Augmented Reality

Abstract:

Augmented Reality (AR) is a format of new media art that places digital information over live feeds of the real world on smart devices. This can be 3D models, images, audio or interactive media. I will be presenting a series of projects I have been working on which utilize AR to build socially engaged public art projects for mobile devices. Work discussed will focus on my forthcoming chapter for the first monograph on augmented reality art called “Augmenting Wilderness.” This will be mostly Alaskan and Arctic themes, including the reconstruction of the former termini at Exit Glacier to an expansive digital storytelling project called Non-Local, which places stories outside of wi-fi ecosystems.

Theoretical topics will include reality hacking, network aesthetics, the advent of the Speculative Realist group in 2009 (and their pioneering work on object-oriented ontology in relation to media habitats), as well as a reconsideration of Situationist thinking for contemporary Alaska, such as psychogeography and unitary urbanism. Other topics will include my upcoming projects for the Anchorage Centennial, where I will be building a series of walking-tours of Anchorage with local authors and a mobile app that recreates a Dena’ina ethnogeography of the original Tikahtnu area.

November 11, 2013.

Dr. Stefanos Folias. Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

Oscillations and Synchrony in the Visual Cortex.

Abstract:

Rhythmic activity is commonly found in the responses of individual and populations of neurons in various regions of the brain. Neurons in the visual part of the brain exhibit a variety of responses to visual stimuli that are shaped by different features of the stimuli, for example, orientation, and can occur in concert with rhythmic activity. In this talk I will begin by presenting background information to motivate and identify a particular example of such responses to visual stimuli in the presence of rhythmic activity. Subsequently, I will discuss a plausible mechanism for how this phenomenon might occur.