BioArt and Public Sphere Conference

October 17, 2005

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The BioArt and Public Sphere Conference is hosted by the University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI). Very Special Thanks to Director David Theo Goldberg and his staff!

This conference aims to bring together artists, biologists, and science studies scholars, to address a broad range of questions about science in the public sphere. The list of possible research domains to be investigated includes, but is not limited to, genomics, tissue engineering, genetic engineering and stem cell research.

1. What types of models of interdisciplinary engagement might facilitate rich, well-informed public participation in scientific discourse?
   
   
2. How do we go beyond the "demo" model often used by science museums and approach the subject matter in an experiential hands-on way that allows for failure, redirection of research questions and the promotion of agency towards an area that is usually reserved for the expert community?
   
   
3. What types of epistemological questions emerge at the intersection of biology, art, and the public sphere? How would an exchange mutually benefit the research areas of each discipline? Under which umbrella could research collaborations of this kind be supported?
   
   

We are specifically interested in the relationship of these research areas to the social landscape of the pharmaceutical industry, the agricultural industry, global trade and corporate license agreements, the framing of biosecurity and biodefense, constructions of disease, and the global politics of the reproductive health industry.