2015 GameChanger Series
iHuman: How is technology changing humanity? 1 - 6 p.m., Saturday, September 26, 2015 Legacy High School Auditorium 3400 East Calgary Avenue Bismarck, ND 58503 Pre-festival EventsBismarck Adventures
Bismarck is a vibrant community. To highlight some of the best attractions we have to offer, the NDHC will allow GameChanger participants to register for adventures in our community from meditation sessions to Missouri river walking tours. Professional Development Opportunities
The GameChanger Series offers special development opportunities for teachers, clergy members, and lawyers. |
GameChanger Series Schedule of Events
11:00 AM Registration Begins/ Food trucks will be in the parking lot so come early and enjoy lunch
1:00 PM Welcome
1:05 PM Idea Exchange
Who Owns The Future?
by Jaron Lanier, The Father of Virtual Reality
One of the world’s most brilliant thinkers, Jaron Lanier reckons with the most urgent economic and social trend of our age: the poisonous concentration of money and power in our digital networks. Lanier predicts how technology will transform our humanity for decades, and his insight has never been more urgently needed. He shows how Siren Servers, which exploit big data and the free sharing of information, led our economy into recession, imperiled personal privacy, and hollowed out the middle class. The networks that define our world—including social media, financial institutions, and intelligence agencies—now threaten to destroy it. But there is an alternative. In this talk Lanier charts a path toward a brighter future: an information economy that rewards ordinary people for what they do and share on the web.
Entertainment
What Good Is Heaven If You Never Die?
by Noreen Herzfeld, Religion Scholar and Computer Scientist
As Francis Crick once said, "You are nothing but a pack of neurons." If the essence of the self is merely the information stored in our brains, then at some future date it might be possible to upload this information to a computer, thus letting the self persist despite the death of one's body. Transhumanists look forward to this new form of digital immortality. But is this sufficient? Christians have looked forward to a resurrection of the body. But why? What does a body give us that life in cyberspace does not? Is the notion of heaven becoming obsolete? In her groundbreaking talk, Noreen Herzfeld explores how religious scholars respond to new challenges created by technological advances.
Entertainment
The Power Of Video Games To Reshape Learning
by Richard Van Eck, Education Expert and Computer Game Designer
With 174 million gamers in the United States alone, we now live in a world where every generation will be a gamer generation. But why, Richard Van Eck asks, should games be used for escapist entertainment alone? In this groundbreaking talk, he explains how world-class researchers, game developers, and digital entrepreneurs are harnessing the power of computer and video games to create sustainable solutions for society’s biggest social, cultural, scientific, and economic challenges. These changes have significant implications for educational systems as well, yet these solutions challenge traditional teaching environments and techniques. Are we ready to change our educational systems and practices? Accessible for gamers and non-gamers alike, this talk illustrates that the future of education involves leveraging the power of games to tap into learning environments that support a more knowledgeable, compassionate, and committed citizenship.
3:00 PM Break/Book Bar
Not only can you tell a lot about a person by the books they read, but a good book is often the catalyst for a good conversation. The GameChanger Book Bar offers you the chance to find out what interests and entertains the people in your community and invites conversation to continue after the event is over. To participate bring one of your favorite books to exchange with a random audience member. After the event is over and you have time to enjoy your new book we encourage you to reconnect and discuss. Drop an email or meet for coffee. Then keep the conversation going by passing the item along to someone new. (The Book Bar is an optional event.)
3:30 PM Idea Exchange
I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy
by Lori B Andrews, Legal Expert on Technology and Personal Privacy
Social networks, the defining cultural movement of our time, offer many freedoms. But as we work and shop and date over the Web, we are opening ourselves up to intrusive privacy violations by employers, the police, and aggressive data collection companies that sell our information to any and all takers. Through groundbreaking research, Andrews reveals how colleges routinely reject applicants due to personal information searches, robbers use vacation postings to target homes for break-ins, and lawyers scour our social media for information to use against us in court. And the legal system isn't protecting us—in the thousands of privacy violations brought to trial, judges often rule against the victims. Providing expert advice and leading the charge to secure our rights, Andrews proposes a Social Network Constitution to protect us all. Now is the time to join her and take action—the very future of privacy is at stake.
So You've Been Publicly Shamed
by Jon Ronson, Award-Winning Writer, Journalist, and Documentary Filmmaker
For the past three years, Jon Ronson has been immersing himself in the world of modern-day public shaming—meeting famous shamees, shamers, and bystanders who have been impacted. This is the perfect time for a modern-day Scarlet Letter—a radically empathetic book about public shaming, and about shaming as a form of social control. It has become such a big part of our lives it has begun to feel weird and empty when there isn't anyone to be furious about. Whole careers are being ruined by one mistake. A transgression is revealed. Our collective outrage at it has the force of a hurricane. Then we all quickly forget about it and move on to the next one, and it doesn't cross our minds to wonder if the shamed person is okay or in ruins. What’s it doing to them? What’s it doing to us? Ronson presents a powerful, funny, unique, and very humane dispatch from the frontline, in the escalating war on human nature and its flaws.
4:55 PM Break
5:15 PM Meeting of the Minds
Each thinker is given the option to ask each other questions and take final questions from the audience.
6:00 PM Book signing in lobby/Recipe for a Good Conversation Reception
Sample a variety of gourmet appetizers from Terra Nomad Company, a unique café and concept store in downtown Bismarck. Chef Tyler Romine has curated a sampling of some of his best offerings for you to enjoy. The GameChanger thinkers will be on hand to sign copies of their books and answer additional questions.
1:00 PM Welcome
1:05 PM Idea Exchange
Who Owns The Future?
by Jaron Lanier, The Father of Virtual Reality
One of the world’s most brilliant thinkers, Jaron Lanier reckons with the most urgent economic and social trend of our age: the poisonous concentration of money and power in our digital networks. Lanier predicts how technology will transform our humanity for decades, and his insight has never been more urgently needed. He shows how Siren Servers, which exploit big data and the free sharing of information, led our economy into recession, imperiled personal privacy, and hollowed out the middle class. The networks that define our world—including social media, financial institutions, and intelligence agencies—now threaten to destroy it. But there is an alternative. In this talk Lanier charts a path toward a brighter future: an information economy that rewards ordinary people for what they do and share on the web.
Entertainment
What Good Is Heaven If You Never Die?
by Noreen Herzfeld, Religion Scholar and Computer Scientist
As Francis Crick once said, "You are nothing but a pack of neurons." If the essence of the self is merely the information stored in our brains, then at some future date it might be possible to upload this information to a computer, thus letting the self persist despite the death of one's body. Transhumanists look forward to this new form of digital immortality. But is this sufficient? Christians have looked forward to a resurrection of the body. But why? What does a body give us that life in cyberspace does not? Is the notion of heaven becoming obsolete? In her groundbreaking talk, Noreen Herzfeld explores how religious scholars respond to new challenges created by technological advances.
Entertainment
The Power Of Video Games To Reshape Learning
by Richard Van Eck, Education Expert and Computer Game Designer
With 174 million gamers in the United States alone, we now live in a world where every generation will be a gamer generation. But why, Richard Van Eck asks, should games be used for escapist entertainment alone? In this groundbreaking talk, he explains how world-class researchers, game developers, and digital entrepreneurs are harnessing the power of computer and video games to create sustainable solutions for society’s biggest social, cultural, scientific, and economic challenges. These changes have significant implications for educational systems as well, yet these solutions challenge traditional teaching environments and techniques. Are we ready to change our educational systems and practices? Accessible for gamers and non-gamers alike, this talk illustrates that the future of education involves leveraging the power of games to tap into learning environments that support a more knowledgeable, compassionate, and committed citizenship.
3:00 PM Break/Book Bar
Not only can you tell a lot about a person by the books they read, but a good book is often the catalyst for a good conversation. The GameChanger Book Bar offers you the chance to find out what interests and entertains the people in your community and invites conversation to continue after the event is over. To participate bring one of your favorite books to exchange with a random audience member. After the event is over and you have time to enjoy your new book we encourage you to reconnect and discuss. Drop an email or meet for coffee. Then keep the conversation going by passing the item along to someone new. (The Book Bar is an optional event.)
3:30 PM Idea Exchange
I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy
by Lori B Andrews, Legal Expert on Technology and Personal Privacy
Social networks, the defining cultural movement of our time, offer many freedoms. But as we work and shop and date over the Web, we are opening ourselves up to intrusive privacy violations by employers, the police, and aggressive data collection companies that sell our information to any and all takers. Through groundbreaking research, Andrews reveals how colleges routinely reject applicants due to personal information searches, robbers use vacation postings to target homes for break-ins, and lawyers scour our social media for information to use against us in court. And the legal system isn't protecting us—in the thousands of privacy violations brought to trial, judges often rule against the victims. Providing expert advice and leading the charge to secure our rights, Andrews proposes a Social Network Constitution to protect us all. Now is the time to join her and take action—the very future of privacy is at stake.
So You've Been Publicly Shamed
by Jon Ronson, Award-Winning Writer, Journalist, and Documentary Filmmaker
For the past three years, Jon Ronson has been immersing himself in the world of modern-day public shaming—meeting famous shamees, shamers, and bystanders who have been impacted. This is the perfect time for a modern-day Scarlet Letter—a radically empathetic book about public shaming, and about shaming as a form of social control. It has become such a big part of our lives it has begun to feel weird and empty when there isn't anyone to be furious about. Whole careers are being ruined by one mistake. A transgression is revealed. Our collective outrage at it has the force of a hurricane. Then we all quickly forget about it and move on to the next one, and it doesn't cross our minds to wonder if the shamed person is okay or in ruins. What’s it doing to them? What’s it doing to us? Ronson presents a powerful, funny, unique, and very humane dispatch from the frontline, in the escalating war on human nature and its flaws.
4:55 PM Break
5:15 PM Meeting of the Minds
Each thinker is given the option to ask each other questions and take final questions from the audience.
6:00 PM Book signing in lobby/Recipe for a Good Conversation Reception
Sample a variety of gourmet appetizers from Terra Nomad Company, a unique café and concept store in downtown Bismarck. Chef Tyler Romine has curated a sampling of some of his best offerings for you to enjoy. The GameChanger thinkers will be on hand to sign copies of their books and answer additional questions.
Post-festival Events
Recipe for a Good Conversation Project
The North Dakota Humanities Council is dedicated to the idea that different voices with differing opinions engaged in conversations—meaningful conversations—in coffee shops and on street corners are the first steps in seeking solutions that influence and change our world. Our programs, including the GameChanger Series, are curated to bring people together in these meaningful conversations. Because speaking and listening to each other also encourages thinking together. And together, we can unleash our creativity and courage to change and improve our communities, our lives, our world.
We invite you to extend the conversation started at the GameChanger Series by participating in our Recipes for a Good Conversation project.
The North Dakota Humanities Council is dedicated to the idea that different voices with differing opinions engaged in conversations—meaningful conversations—in coffee shops and on street corners are the first steps in seeking solutions that influence and change our world. Our programs, including the GameChanger Series, are curated to bring people together in these meaningful conversations. Because speaking and listening to each other also encourages thinking together. And together, we can unleash our creativity and courage to change and improve our communities, our lives, our world.
We invite you to extend the conversation started at the GameChanger Series by participating in our Recipes for a Good Conversation project.