Stories, Poetry, and Birdsong | te Online Lectures
Stories, Poetry, and Birdsong
《故事，诗歌与鸟鸣》
Speaker: Boria Sax (Guest Moderator: Ruoyi Shi)
Language: English
9AM EDT (New York) / 2PM BST (London) (*Attendees in other time zones, please convert to your local time)
Boria Sax has long studied how animals have moved through human culture, stories, and mythology. In this lecture, he turns his attention to birds. Human beings organize experience primarily through storytelling, which serves, among other things, to construct identities, build communities, teach lessons, and set goals. Animals as well, from wolves to fireflies, are constantly exchanging messages, which are structured in ways that resemble human stories. This is especially apparent in birds, for whom songs and calls are used for courtship, proclaiming territory, issuing warnings, and affirming bonds, all of which are also central motifs in the tales told by human beings. These vocalizations also resemble human stories in that they modulate their tempo for purposes such as the building or release of dramatic tension. They differ from human stories, and even more from products of artificial intelligence, in that they are profoundly embedded in the world to a point where the question of “truth” or “falsity” can become irrelevant.
The lecture will be joined by artist Ruoyi Shi as guest moderator.
𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮
SCHEDULE
Talk (60min)
Q&A (30min)
ZOOM LINK
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HIGHLIGHT
Replay: Registrants will receive a replay link valid for one month after the lecture concludes. The replay does not include the live Q&A session.
Further Resources: Registrants will have access to a Digital Reading Room for this lecture, featuring supplementary materials and references related to the lecture.
𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮 𓅮
SPEAKER BIO
Boria Sax is the author of 20 books, mostly on animals in human culture, including Avian Illuminations: A Cultural History of Birds, City of Ravens, and The Mythical Zoo: Animals in Myth, Legend, and Literature. His books have been widely translated including eight into either simplified or traditional Chinese. He teaches at Sing Sing prison and in the graduate English program of Mercy University.