CCEPA and the Evolution Studies Group present:

The Elements: Ethical Uses of Our Resources: Food, Oil & Water

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PART 1: FOOD - Ethical Issues in Agriculture:
Organic, Locavore and Genetic Modification

Dr. R. Paul Thompson, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Institute For The History and Philosophy of Science and Technology; Dept. Of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto

Advocates for organic agriculture, eating locally grown food and rejecting genetic modification abound. The claims made in support of positions on these topics allude to health, environmental and economic issues, but the core of the debates is ethical and philosophical and for some theological. These ethical and philosophical issues are the focus of this lecture with claims made about health, the environment and the economy forming an essential backdrop.

Respondents: Dr. Rylan Higgins, Department of Anthropology, Saint Mary's University; Dr. Bohdan L. Luhovyy, Applied Human Nutrition Department, Mount Saint Vincent University; Dr. Tarjei Tennessen, Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Nova Scotia Agriculture College

January 25th 7:00 pm
The Scotiabank Theatre Auditorium
McCain Building, Dalhousie University

This presentation was supported by the Department of Philosophy at Saint Mary's University, Mount Saint Vincent University, the Situating Science Knowledge Cluster and the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University.

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PART 2: WATER - Carbon and the Oceans:
When Oil and Water Mix

Keynote: Alanna Mitchell, author of Sea Sick.

A discussion of the effects of fossil fuels on the global ocean. Based on research from her recent book, Sea Sick, Mitchell will focus on three main marine concerns - ocean acidification, ocean warming and ocean dead zones - and explain why some scientists believe these conditions constitute a recipe for mass extinction. And if that is true, Mitchell will ask us to consider, what then is humanity's ethical response?

This presentation is supported by the Departments of Geography and Philosophy at Saint Mary's University, the Canadian Business Ethics Research Network (CBERN), and the Halifax Port Authority.

April 3rd, 7pm - 9pm
Scotiabank Theatre Auditorium
Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary's University

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PART 3: The Master Resource: Oil and the New Servitude

Keynote: Andrew Nikiforuk, author of Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent

The affordability, portability and versatility of petroleum rapidly changed the role of the human species on the planet over the last 150 years. It expanded the role of the state, mechanized cities, industrialized agriculture, propelled demographic growth and changed economic thinking. What changes does the end of cheap oil herald, how much energy are North Americans ethically entitled to, and is it time for a paradigm shift?

May 16th, 7pm - 9pm
Scotiabank Theatre Auditorium
Sobey School of Business,
Saint Mary's University