Newsletter #277

AGENDA

Cycle of seminars will address the nature of ignorance and how to deal with it

The seminar "Why People Believe What They Believe" will open the cycle "What Does Ignorance Have To Teach?" on August 8, at 2:00 pm, with a lecture by behavioral psychologist, professor and writer Stuart Vyse. Vyse is a specialist in superstition and irrational behavior. He is a columnist for the bimonthly American general-audience magazine "Skeptical Inquirer" and author of the book "Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition." What ignorance is, how to study it and how to deal with it are the central issues to be discussed in the cycle, which will have six further seminars from August to December, with lecturers from USP, the University of Brasilia (UnB), the Science Question Institute (IQC), and the Brazilian website "e-farsas." The cycle is an initiative of the IEA and the IQC.

Full story available in Portuguese only. For further information, please send us an e-mail.

Seminar debates the need to innovate in urban policies

On August 7, at 8:30 am, the cycle of seminars "UrbanSus: Urban Sustainability" will hold the meeting "Innovation in Urban Public Policies," with panels on the Internet of Things, Social Technology, Safety, and Regulation. The coordinators of the event consider that effective and durable solutions for cities depend on innovation, application of new technologies, and sustainable practices, as well as a transversal reading that includes the environmental, economic, and social fields. The organizers of the cycle are the USP Global Cities Program, hosted at the IEA, the School of Public Health (FSP-USP), and the Interdisciplinary Climate Investigation Center (INCLINE-USP).

Full story available in Portuguese only. For further information, please send us an e-mail.

Researcher analyzes actions and the perception of health in the history of "Bom Retiro"

Bom Retiro, a neighborhood near the center of São Paulo, has always been seen as a place of poor health, according to historian Jeffrey Lesser (Emory University), a visiting professor at the IEA. At the conference "Life and Death in the 'Worst' Neighborhood of São Paulo," on August 5, at 2:00 pm, he will analyze the relationship between public health (as well as a series of formal policies reinforced by trained actors) and the "public's health" (considering how residents of the neighborhood understand their own health). The reference information have been obtained by a project that analyzes data of a neighborhood's block from the 1880s until today.

Cycle on the challenges of education in risk society starts in September

Marcel Bursztyn, from University of Brasília's Center for Sustainable Development (CDS-UnB), and Pedro Jacobi, coordinator of IEA's Environment and Society Research Group, will be the presenters at the seminar "Education and Sustainability" on September 17. The event inaugurates the cycle "The Various Sides of Risk and the Challenges of Education in Contemporary Society." According to the organizer, Maurício Pietrocola, a professor at USP's School of Education and currently a participant in IEA's Sabbatical Year Program, "education can play a fundamental role in overcoming the impasses between improving quality of life and preserving the environment" in a scenario of conflicts and risks.

Full story available in Portuguese only. For further information, please send us an e-mail.

Conference discusses freedom of speech in universities

Boycotts held by groups of students and militants to classes and lectures containing speeches that they consider immoral or dangerous will be the subject of the conference "The Truth Can Not Be Planned," to take place at the IEA on August 1, at 2:00 pm. The practice is known as "no-platforming" and will be presented by historian of philosophy Bruna Frascolla Bloise, from University of Campinas's Institute of Philosophy and the Humanities.

Full story available in Portuguese only. For further information, please send us an e-mail.

Colloquium will discuss interdisciplinary collaboration between philosophy and probability

The IEA and the Department of Philosophy of USP's Faculty of Philosophy, Languages and Literature, and Human Sciences (FFLCH) will hold the "2019 Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Probability Theory: Philosophy, Physics, and Mathematics at Crossroads" The event will discuss the need for greater collaboration between these disciplines in Brazil. With the objective of contributing to the formation of an interdisciplinary working group in philosophy and probability, the colloquium will have conferences and presentations by researches. The deadline to submit papers is September 6.

INSTITUTO DE ESTUDOS AVANÇADOS DA USP / INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES OF USP

Diretor / Director: Paulo Saldiva — Vice-Diretor / Deputy Director: Guilherme Ary Plonski — Conselho Deliberativo / Board: Paulo Saldiva, Guilherme Ary Plonski, Sérgio Adorno, José Roberto Piqueira, Celso Lafer, Claudia Costin, Valeria De Marco, Eric Danzi Lemos, Antonio José da Costa Filho, and Valtencir Zucolotto.
www.iea.usp.br — iea@usp.br — (+ 55 11) 3091-3922

BOLETIM IEA / IEA NEWSLETTER — Divisão de Comunicação / Communication Division — Chefe / Chief: Fernanda Cunha Rezende — Redator / Editor: Mauro Bellesa — Estagiário / Intern: Nelson Niero Neto — Versão em inglês / English version: Richard Meckien — ieacomunica@usp.br — (+ 55 11) 3091-3922 — Para receber, envie mensagem para / To subscribe send a message to boletim-iea@usp.br — Para cancelar o envio, escreva "Retirar" no "Assunto" da resposta / To unsubscribe write "Remove" in the "Subject" of your answer.