Academic

• “What’s AI got to do with it? The Odyssey of Knowledge Production and Stress through the Ages”. Video of the guest lecture (transcript here), invited by the Departments of Chinese Studies, Indology/South Asian Studies, and Japanese Studies of the University of Tübingen and the German Society for Time Policy (DGfZP), Berlin, 2024

  Abstract

  Academia in crisis has been the subject of conferences and publications for several decades. The novel factor that has recently appeared in this conversation is the unabashed infiltration of AI into the heart of knowledge production in the “Ivory Tower”. However, is the “crisis” really all that new or even surprising? And, if not, what is this phenomenon, and what can or should we do about it? Most importantly, what are the implications of the advent of the long-awaited technological development for “knowledge”, work, and life?

  By nuancing our understanding of stress and challenging our precepts about what knowledge is and the nature of technology, I take this conversation beyond the immediate concerns of survival in academia. What if, I ask, what we assume to be the production of knowledge actually leads to ignorance and the destruction of our world? And, what’s AI got to do with it all?

• “And the Lord said, Go into the wilderness. A sermon for wild spirituality” (transcript of video here).

  What comes to mind when you hear the words “civilisation” and “wilderness”? Usually, we associate civilisation with care and morality and we think of wilderness as the battleground where might makes right. But, what if things were the other way round? What would a new way of understanding wilderness mean for how we think and live in the world? And, where does spirituality come in?

  Layla AbdelRahim is a comparativist anthropologist who challenges us to rethink what we think we know about ourselves, civilisation, and wilderness.

  Join us for an exploration of these questions at the Unitarian Universalist Church, North Hatley, Sunday service, 4th June 2023

• “‘Up’ the Hierarchy Ladder and Into ‘The Secret Garden’ of Social and Gender Inequality”. Presentation at the Consortium of Gender Scholars, Nazarbayev University, 18th September 2019
• “Women’s Education for a Sustainable World”. Keynote Speaker (also opened the ceremony for the Science, Art, and Sustainability Project) at Vanitha College, Hyderabad, India; 9 August 2016
• “Epistemology and Engineering: a Critique of Narratives and Civilization”. Invited lecture for the academic staff of the CK Reddy College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, open to all disciplines, but mostly attended by professors from engineering (bio-engineering included), environmental, physics, and architecture departments, India; 10 August 2016
• “Sociology as a Narrative of Civilization”. Department of Sociology, Osmania University, Hyderabad. Invited lecture, India; 9 August 2016
• “Critique of Civilization and Prospects of Education in an Imperilled World”. 5th Orientation Course for Furthering Professionalization of Educators. Invited lecture for professors at Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, on the importance of critique of civilization across academic disciplines for a new and viable educational model. 8 August 2016
• “Epistemology, Civilization, and the Roots of War”. Public lecture at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. 4 August 2016

• “Civilization and Patriarchy: The Domestication of Sex and the Origins of Gender”. Invited speaker at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Tapti Hostel Public Lecture series, India; 3 August 2016

• “Origin Stories and Political Paradigms”. Invited lecture by the Department of Political Science, Delhi University, India; 3 August 2016

General

• “Women’s Education for a Sustainable World”. Keynote Speaker (also opened the ceremony for the Science, Art, and Sustainability Project) at Vanitha College, Hyderabad, India; 9 August 2016

• “Epistemology and Engineering: a Critique of Narratives and Civilization”. Invited lecture for the academic staff of the CK Reddy College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, open to all disciplines, but mostly attended by professors from engineering (bio-engineering included), environmental, physics, and architecture departments, India; 10 August 2016

• “Sociology as a Narrative of Civilization”. Department of Sociology, Osmania University, Hyderabad. Invited lecture, India; 9 August 2016

• “Critique of Civilization and Prospects of Education in an Imperilled World”. 5th Orientation Course for Furthering Professionalization of Educators. Invited lecture for professors at Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, on the importance of critique of civilization across academic disciplines for a new and viable educational model. 8 August 2016

• “Epistemology, Civilization, and the Roots of War”. Public lecture at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. 4 August 2016

• “Civilization and Patriarchy: The Domestication of Sex and the Origins of Gender”. Invited speaker at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Tapti Hostel Public Lecture series, India; 3 August 2016

• “Origin Stories and Political Paradigms”. Invited lecture by the Department of Political Science, Delhi University, India; 3 August 2016

Abstracts

Scientific

Other

Abstracts

Descriptions of the invited lectures cycle in India can be found here

Descriptions of the invited lectures cycle in India can be found here