Event: Public talk on neuroscience, ethics and the Games
Date/time: Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009, 7 p.m.
Location: UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson St., Vancouver
Media and the public are invited to a free Olympic-themed lecture tonight by Dr. Judy Illes, UBC Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics, on the powerful ethical questions raised when science is used to enhance athletic performance.
“If we could predict from a brain scan children likely to be Olympic champions, how should society use this information?” says Illes. “If we learned that an antidepressant increases the brain’s ability to coordinate movement, should it be banned as performance enhancing?
Editors: To interview Judy Illes or representatives of UBC’s 2010 education activities, contact Basil Waugh, UBC Public Affairs, at 604.822.2048. Media are welcome to attend the event.
The event – which kicks off Intellectual Muscle University Dialogues for Vancouver 2010, a UBC-led VANOC education program – is one of several speaker series that will ask provocative questions about what Olympics and Paralympics mean to our society, including:
- UBC Sport and Society Speaker Series
- UBC Winter Games Seminar Series, including Arts Wednesdays, Ziegler Visiting Speaker Series and Student Olympic Conference
- Green College’s Olympic Games in Myth and Reality series
These series will explore the upcoming Games through a variety of lens, such as gender, diversity, ethics, science, impacts and sustainability.
A centerpiece of UBC’s 2010 education activities will be Sports and Society, which kicks off Feb. 8, 2010 and runs through the Games. It will feature Olympians and Paralympians who have made a positive impact on society such as Johann Koss (international humanitarian organization Right To Play), Dick Pound (World Anti-Doping Agency) and Rick Hanson in five lively, respectful debates with academics and others.
“Our goal is to create the broadest forum possible for dialogue and debate around the Games, as part of UBC’s commitment to advancing knowledge and civil society,” says Sid Katz, Executive Director of UBC Community Engagement and Sports and Society creator.
Intellectual Muscle is led by Don Black, UBC Continuing Studies’ Director of Community Programs, who has been seconded to VANOC’s as Director of Education Programs for the 2010 Winter Games. This series, which will be available as podcasts starting Oct. 5 in partnership with the Globe and Mail, will take place at universities across Canada through March 2010.
Learn about UBC 2010 speaker series at:
- Learning from the Games – UBC Reports, Sep. 8, 2009
- What’s On – UBC 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Secretariat
- The Olympic Games in Myth and Reality – Thematic Lecture Series at Green College (PDF)
Learn about UBC 2010 learning initiatives, which include the Student Olympic Conference, course curricula, volunteer and co-op placement opportunities and cultural events, at: www.ubc.ca/2010.