The Star Trek academic symposium will to be held at the Faculty of ICT, University of Malta on 15 and 16 July 2016. This event will be a platform for academics from across many disciplines and Star Trek fans to meet and explore the intersection of the humanities and the sciences. There will be inspirational presentations from national and international speakers, with the programme tailored to attract a wide audience. Contributors will be encouraged to explore and present contemporary issues in medicine, science and technology as well as philosophical, psychological and sociological issues relating to the humanities with a specific focus on and a direct correlation to Star Trek.
A similar symposium was held in 2014. It was the first of its kind to happen worldwide, and was a success drawing participation from international scholars from several countries, including Jason Eberl, the American philosopher, and Neena Modi, neonatologist and BMJ (British Medical Journal) Ethics Committee Chairperson in the UK. This differed from the traditional fan-based conventions usually held globally and involved serious discussion on a wide variety of topics related to Star Trek and medicine, science and philosophy.
This gave the organizers the impetus to organize this particular event as 2016 marks the 50th anniversary from the launch of Star Trek: The Original Series. The event is supported by HUMS, a programme at the University of Malta that has been set up to explore and encourage the interfaces between the humanities, medicine and the sciences. It aims to facilitate and disseminate cross-disciplinary research. Malta offers a strategic location for this kind of activity to take place and indeed, the Maltese Islands have been an important meeting place for various Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean cultures throughout the ages.
Maltese history is replete with cultural admixture which is an added bonus to the international scope of this symposium. The Science Fiction Symposium is an event that will appeal to scientists and fans of science fiction alike.
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