Sedbergh Festival of Ideas

Main strand: Science and consciousness

There will be three 25-minute presentations by the following speakers:

Professor Geraint Rees, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, London.

Prof. Rees leads the Awareness Group at the ICN. He has published widely on attention, vision and the neural correlates of consciousness (i.e., can my brain activity on a scanner be related to my experience?)

Dr. Ilona Roth, Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the Psychology in Science Group, Department of Life Sciences, Open University.

Dr. Roth has taught psychology for many years. Her research studies include self-awareness and imagination in people with autism. She recently edited Imaginative Minds (Proceedings of the British Academy 147, 2007). She intends to talk about her research into imagination and self-expression in poetry by people on the autism spectrum.

Martin Skov, Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen.

Martin Skov is a neuroaesthetician who investigates the neurobiological underpinnings of aesthetic preferences using fMRI. In his own words his presentation will examine “the neuroethics of consciousness research.” Martin is co-editor of Følelser og kognition [Emotion and Cognition], 2007, and Neuroaesthetics. He is also collaborating on a book on how we view human nature in the age of neuroscience.

Each presentation will be introduced by Professor Tom Ormerod, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, University of Lancaster and a resident of Sedbergh.

Ideas Exchange: Consciousness Studies - The Wider Picture

11.45am - 1.30pm, People’s Hall

Final Presentation followed by Audience and Panel Ideas Exchange

Professor Max Velmans, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, London

Prof. Velmans has written widely on consciousness: his books include Is the Brain in the World or the World in the Brain? and Understanding Consciousness. He co-edited The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness (2007). Professor Velmans will give a 25-minute introductory talk and lead a discussion with Rees, Roth and Skov.

Ideas Exchange - a chance for the audience to question the speakers and to add personal contributions to the day’s debate.

Ilona Roth
(photo: Tina Wardhaugh)

Max Velmans

Martin Skov