Soybean is an ancient crop that originated from China and has been deeply integrated into the food culture of East Asia. Modern soybean is an important economic crop in the world, providing 70% of global plant protein and 28% of vegetable oil for human and animal consumption. Soybean can reduce the use of chemical nitrogen fertilizers through symbiotic nitrogen fixation with rhizobia and hence is an integral component of sustainable agriculture. In China, more than 80% of the soybean need is dependent on imports, creating the “Soybean Crisis”. Through innovative science and technology, we can research, utilize, and generate soybean seed resources more effectively. In this lecture, we will discuss the topic of soybean from a scientific perspective.  

The relationship between heaven and humans has been essential in Chinese thought since ancient times. This lecture will first provide an overview of the various theories of the Pre-Qin, two Hans, and Song-Ming periods, and then analyze how contemporary Neo-Confucianism has offered creative interpretations of this by drawing on the intellectual resources of Song-Ming Confucianism to respond the challenges of modernity.

Women’s status in many countries have significantly improved since the 1960s, with more women being employed, receiving higher education, and becoming professionals. Domestic violence and gender discrimination has been made illegal in many countries, and safe birth controls have been made widely accessible. At the same time, women have continuously been underrepresented in leadership positions, and the majority of the victims of sexual and domestic violence are women. Just when feminists are frustrated at the stalled gender revolution, anti-feminist backlash and counter-movements have fueled the global surge of right-wing politics. Some argue that a war between the genders has been waged in the 21st century, both online and offline. Is this true? In this talk, I will try to answer this question and delineate the growing tension between women’s fight for gender equality and men’s growing anxiety about what this means for their roles both in the public and private spheres.

不久前，日本東京電力開始把福島第一核電站儲存的核廢水排入太平洋，引起很多國家的關注和環保團體的抗議。究竟福島在2011年3.11 大地震和海嘯引發的核災過後，是否如日本政府所言，生活已經復歸正常？抑或如環保團體揭露的危機處處，輻射的遺害仍在？災後福島的生活日常，除了食物安全之外，跟我們有什麼關係？講者自2014年第一次踏足福島，將以他的田野體驗來探討這些議題。

塑膠是現代生活和工業科技發展的重要物料。但塑膠這個19世紀中葉才出現的化工物料是如何及何時進入現代中國的？塑料又是如何中介及影響政治與社會文化？此講座介紹幾個毛時代的塑料產品和影像呈現，初步分享塑膠與政治、社會和中國現代性的微妙關係。

這個演講開始會介紹，爲什麽在人工智慧的時代裏，不管大學裏各科系所學的專業領域為何，可能都需要注意哲學。 對唯物論者，因爲物理定律決定論，宇宙大爆炸時就已決定一切，人類的自由意志只是假象。犯罪者身不由己，應該被懲罰嗎？對有神論者，上帝在創世就知道人類所有行爲。犯罪來自上帝給人類的自由意志。但是上帝所知不能改變，人怎麼會有自由意志？兩個相反的世界觀有同樣的挑戰。 物理科學還在繼續發展，但是宗教教義不易改變。聖經裏都是神在時間之内（A理論）的故事，信徒如果希望上帝回應祈禱，也在A理論框架裏才説得通。可是基督宗教堅持上帝在時間外（B理論），因爲擔心神的主權被侵犯。 氣象教科書常用自由波的共振來解釋強迫波動，可是分析馬登—朱利安振盪（Madden-Julian Oscillation, MJO）會發現它和自由波沒有共振，因爲物理和散頻都根本不同。混沌機制和輻射强迫互不干涉，解釋了爲什麽對十天溫度預報沒信心，但是卻相信更久的全球暖化。這個啓示是，上帝讓人類有自由意志時依然可以握有絕對主權。這不但有利於對上帝製造罪惡指控的辯護，也對一個著名上帝先知的故事，做出了顛覆性但是更合邏輯的闡釋。