“It’s clear,” says Dr Bowden, “that the design of new, marketable technologies requires input from Humanities scholars who are well placed to understand the human dimensions and impacts of these technologies, and to articulate the ethical frameworks that should guide their functioning and use.”

On Wednesday 31st July, Deakin’s Dr Sean Bowden will be facilitating a panel discussion on the topic Who Needs the Humanities? at the NGV’s Clemenger Auditorium (tickets are still available via the link). Joining Sean will be: 

• Prof Joy Damousi, Professor of History at the University of Melbourne and current President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
• Prof David Lowe, Alfred Deakin Professor and Chair in Contemporary History, Deakin University.
• Prof Robert Stern, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield and current President of the British Philosophical Association.
• Dr Miriam Bankovsky, Senior Lecturer in Politics and Director of the Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics, La Trobe University.
• Dr Emily Potter, Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies and Associate Head of School (Research) in the School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University.

Ahead of the event, Dr Bowden and panelists spoke to Deakin’s Disruptr Magazine about defending a place for the humanities in the twentieth century. 

The value of Humanities research might often be difficult to pin down. But this is only because it is as multi-dimensional as the human world in which we live.