QUEENSTOWNERS are invited to have their brains tickled this Labour Weekend, through a collaboration between Catalyst Trust and the University of Otago’s humanities division.

MindJam’s a free event being held at Arrowtown’s Lakes District Museum from next Friday night to Sunday afternoon.

Catalyst Trust founder and chair Cath Gilmour says it’s the first time MindJam’s been held in Queenstown since 2019 — they were previously held at Yonder.

The upcoming sessions provide a chance for people to meet, think and take part in informal conversations, stitched together by some of New Zealand’s leading thinkers.

While each of the five sessions are guided by experts, it’s the public’s questions and kōrero that feed the conversations, Gilmour says.

"It’s a great way to punctate good coffee, meals and walks with interesting conversations.”

The first session, from 5.30pm till 7pm next Friday — ‘How do we build a better world?’ — involves a panel of university experts who’ll explore the insights and essential tools the humanities offer in this era of massive global change, covering the likes of climate change and social disruption.

From 11am till noon on Saturday Dr Fairleigh Gilmour will lead the ‘Teachnology’ discussion.

A blurb about that says much of the discussion today around teach and teaching assumes people have equal access to, and capability with, technology, but that’s often not the case.

The session will look at the possibilities and pitfalls of ‘teachnology’, based on lessons learnt from teaching ‘low-tech’ in prisons, and what’s fundamental to lifelong learning for all.

That session’s followed by ‘Tradwives and Girlbosses’ from 1pm till 2pm, led by Dr Peyton Bond, who’ll explore what feminism can be now, and how it can respond to our world today, given the 2020s have delivered the ‘manosphere’, ‘looksmaxxing’ and ‘tradwives’.

MindJam wraps up with two more sessions on Sunday — ‘Artificial Relationships’, from 11am till noon, looking at what insights fiction writers give to help understand ourselves and how our relationships with AI personas might evolve.

The discussion of literary takes on AI intimacies, featuring Pygmalion, Narcissus and ChatGPT is being led by Prof David Ciccoricco, before a session on New Zealand’s upcoming general election, led by Dr Neil Vallelly, from 1pm till 2pm.

He’ll consider the current political climate in NZ within the context of contemporary global politics, showing how we risk becoming plagued by the same divisive and derisive politics affecting other liberal democracies.

While each of the sessions are free, registrations are required, via Catalyst Trust’s Humanitix page — koha will be given to the Lakes District Museum’s education programmes.

tracey.roxburgh@scene.co.nz