How to Study and Understand
Non-Human Consciousness
4-9 May 2024 | Kathmandu, Nepal

How to Study and Understand
Non-Human Consciousness
4-9 May 2024 | Kathmandu, Nepal
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
The first Animal Consciousness Conference, held in Dharamshala on May 1-5, 2023, covered a wide range of issues – from the global Buddhist demarcation of the world into sentient and non-sentient, through a panorama of the phenomena of sentience and consciousness in different biological taxa, discussions of theories of consciousness and its neurobiological mechanisms, to moral and ethical issues and policies in the field of animal consciousness.

This introductory conference highlighted two important issues:

1. The range of phenomena related to the domain of consciousness is noticeably expanding today. In the future, this may lead to a rethinking of many previously known facts of animal behavior as manifestations of conscious processes.

2. At the same time, there is still considerable uncertainty in the empirical research, tests and conclusions about consciousness in different animal species. To a large extent, this is determined by the ambiguity of theoretical ideas about consciousness, its evolutionary and neural foundations, and the lack of a well-founded program for scientific study of consciousness in the animal world.

The second Animal Consciousness Conference aims to take a step towards the development of such a program. Its topic will be "How to Study and Understand Non-Human Consciousness" and its main task is to advance as far as possible in answering the question what approaches, experiments, and tests are needed and possible today for the scientific exploration of non-human consciousness.

The term “non-human consciousness" appears in the title of the conference because the tasks of identifying and studying potential consciousness in different animal species and in artificial systems faces today a set of similar problems and these two areas can fertilize each other. To this end, the conference will bring together not only experts in the field of animal consciousness, but also in the field of artificial intelligence.

The format of the conference will include both talks with proposals on how to study and understand non-human consciousness, and also work in interdisciplinary breakout groups. They will discuss theoretical, behavioral and neuroscientific approaches to the study of consciousness and will report their proposals at the summing-up general sessions. The conference will be considered a success if it produces a noticeable shift in empirical approaches to the study of non-human consciousness.
SPEAKERS
  • Konstantin Anokhin
    Institute for Advanced Brain Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

  • Pavel Balaban
    Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
  • Tim Bayne
    School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
  • Jonathan Birch
    Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, London School of Economics, London, UK
  • Heather Browning
    Department of Philosophy, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
  • Nicola Clayton
    Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

  • Clara Colombatto
    Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK and Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
  • Graziano Fiorito

    Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn,

    Naples, Italy

  • Martin Giurfa
    Institute of Biology Paris Seine, Sorbonne University, Paris, France
  • Nicholas Humphrey
    Darwin College, Cambridge, UK
  • Eva Jablonka
    Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

  • Masanori Kohda
    Graduate School of Science, Osaka Metropolitan University, Osaka, Japan
  • Matthew Larkum
    Biology Institute, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Paul Manger
    School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Jennifer Mather
    Psychology Department, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada
  • Bjorn Merker
    Independent Researcher, Kristianstad, Sweden
  • Andreas Nieder
    Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
  • Geshe Tenzin Priyadarshi
    Founding Director of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
  • Murray Shanahan
    Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK
  • Henry Shevlin
    Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
  • Anindya Sinha
    Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India
  • Anna Smirnova
    Department of Higher Nervous Activity, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
  • Mark Solms
    Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
  • Thomas Suddendorf
    School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
  • Michael Tye
    Department of Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA
  • Giorgio Vallortigara
    Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
  • Walter Veit
    Department of Philosophy, University of Reading, Reading, UK

SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZER
  • Konstantin Anokhin

    Lomonosov Moscow State

    University, Moscow

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
  • Konstantin Anokhin

    Lomonosov Moscow State

    University, Moscow

  • Yulia Zhironkina
    Director, “Cat of the Wind” Foundation for Humane and Responsible Attitude Towards Animals, Moscow

  • Natasha Inozemtseva
    Deputy Director, “Cat of the Wind” Foundation for Humane and Responsible Attitude Towards Animals, Moscow
PROGRAMME
“How to Study and Understand Non-Human Consciousness”
LOCATION
Hyatt Regency Kathmandu Hotel
PO Box 9609, Taragaon, Boudha, Kathmandu, 141001, Nepal
Tel: +977 1 5171234
kathmandu.regency@hyatt.com

Set on 37 acres of landscaped grounds, a five-star Hyatt Regency Kathmandu Hotel is designed in traditional Newari-style architecture. It is located ideally only 4 kilometres away from the international airport and is a gateway to the city’s plethora of ancient attractions and fascinating architecture sites like Boudhanath, Pashupatinath, Basantapur, Thamel, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square and much more.
BUDDHIST MONASTERIES
About 19km south of Kathmandu, Pharping is a thriving Newari town whose ancient Buddhist pilgrimage sites have been taken over by large numbers of Tibetan Buddhists of various traditions. A circuit of its religious sites makes for a compelling day out from Kathmandu.

ACC-2024 participants will be hosted by Azom Wosel Dongag Chokher Ling Monastery (https://azommonastery.org/gallery) which is located in the picturesque sacred mountains of Dollu, near Pharphing on the edge of the Kathmandu Valley. The monastery belongs to Nyigma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery offers spiritual guidance and fostering compassion in the hearts of all sentient beings.
CONTACTS

“Cat of the Wind” Foundation for Humane and Responsible Attitude Towards Animals, Moscow

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