Skepticism about Pure Moral Deference: Deflate, Debunk, or Defend?
Seminar
Suppose that moral knowledge is unexceptional in the following way: any source of non-moral knowledge can also be a source of moral knowledge. What, then, explains skepticism about pure moral deference—the sense that something is amiss with the agent who outsources her moral judgments? The…
Confirmation of Candidature - The Failure of Political Islam in Sudan
Activity
This thesis examines the rise and collapse of political Islam in Sudan between 1989 and 2019. Following the National Islamic Front’s 1989 coup, the Inqādh (Salvation) regime sought to institutionalise a Shari‘a-based Islamist state, consolidating three decades of authoritarian rule under Omar al…
From here to there and the in-between: Children’s transitions between homes after parental separation
Lecture/seminar
Two potentially important aspects of post-separation parenting arrangements are the number and nature of children’s transitions between homes. Yet scant empirical attention has been paid to the practical, emotional, and relational aspects of these. In this seminar, we examine five contextual…
The Precarious Past in Premodern Java
Seminar
The practice of history in premodern Java was profoundly influenced by precarious conditions of textual production and preservation: fragile manuscripts perished in the tropical environment, archival records were scattered far afield, and historical memories faded over many generations. This…
Artificial Intelligence and Value Alignment
Lecture
“Value alignment”—the challenge of ensuring that the outputs of artificial intelligence and other machine systems reflect and respect human values—has emerged as an urgent concern as computational technologies increasingly encroach upon central domains of human decision-making. Existing strategies…
Six Conservative Australian Feminists, 1901-1970: Towards a Collective Biography
Seminar
Content warning: this presentation will refer to eugenics.To steal from E.P. Thompson in a way he would have deplored, I am seeking to rescue conservative feminists from the enormous condescension of posterity! Although they have had greater scholarly attention in recent years, we know more about…
CAIS Public Lecture Series: The Afterlives of Ottoman Objects
Lecture/seminar
The Afterlives of Ottoman Objects: Alternative Forms of Muslim Citizenship in TurkeyOttoman objects, art traditions, and social practices occupy a contested place in Turkish political life, shaped by the republic’s selective rupture with its Ottoman past and more recent projects of civilisational…