Enacting Innovation will see national and international speakers come together to think about how technological and scientific objects were ‘animated’ in theatrical contexts, both as ideas in text and as realities in production, from Classical antiquity to the present day. This interdisciplinary event is a unique collaboration between the ANU Centre for Classical Studies and the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science with talks from Classics, Science Communication, English and Digital Humanities. All interested students and scholars welcome.

Programme

9:45 Welcome

10-10:45 Anna-Sophie Jürgens (ANU) “Human or Machine?” with response by Maria Gerolemou (JHU)

10:45-11:30 Robin Kreutel (Cambridge) “Literary Artifice as Cultural Innovation in Plautus” with response by Tom Geue (ANU)

BREAK

12:00-12:45 Bob Cowan (USyd) “Dionysos’ Technicians? Inventions and Innovations in Satyr Play” with response by Claire Hansen (ANU)

12:45-1:30 Tatiana Bur (ANU) “Seize the Clay: Scientific Enhancements to Ancient Sympotic Vessels” with response by Anna-Sophie Jürgens (ANU)

LUNCH

2:30-3:15 Ben Nickl (USyd) “The Cultural Mechanics of Canned Laughter” with response by Bob Cowan (USyd)

3:15-4:00 Maria Gerolemou (JHU) “Technological Stagecraft in Antiquity” with response by Estelle Strazdins (ANU).

BREAK

4:30-5:30 Keynote address: Emma Cole (UQ) “Innovation and Classical Reception in Contemporary Artistic Practice”

Reception to follow in the ANU Classics museum with perspectives from Ehsan Nabavi (ANU Responsible Innovation Lab), Anna-Sophie Jürgens (Popsicule - The Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub of the ANU) and Sarah Barnes (Science Communication Masters student and Enacting Innovation Intern)

Image credit: Satyrus Mechanicus (2023). Orchestrated in MidJourney by TA

Enacting Innovation: Science and Tech Objects in Performance