June 8, 1999 (REVISED June 8, 1999) Experts To Survey Past and Future at the Library of Congress

"The rule of reason turned out to be a sham . . ."

". . . our century has witnessed the disappearance, or withering away, of political philosophy."

" . . . a fear has arisen that were greenhouse gases to continue upward along their business-as-usual course that late in the next century yet another reorganization of the ocean's circulation system might be triggered."

These are just three examples of statements taken from papers submitted in advance for a major intellectual summit to be held at the Library of Congress June 15-17 beginning at 9 a.m. each day. The conference "Frontiers of the Mind in the Twenty-First Century," will bring together experts from all over the world, including six Nobel Prize winners, to summarize significant developments from the past century in approximately 24 fields of knowledge, and speculate on what the future will bring.

The conference is open to the public. Call (202) 707-8914 for further information. All sessions will be held in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E. Members of the public will not be admitted to the building before 8:30 am. More information and a live cybercast of the event will be available at https://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/.

The conference is supported by the American Academy of Achievement and the Heinz Family Philanthropies and is the first in a series of symposia celebrating the Library's 200th anniversary on April 24, 2000.

Among the invited presenters and commentators are six Nobel laureates, the Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, and the directors of major academic and research organizations throughout the world.

Participants have been asked to prepare a short paper that will present, for non-specialists, the critical discoveries of the 20th century and suggest which lines of inquiry may be especially promising or what new conceptual or applied breakthroughs might be expected in the decades ahead. The papers will be circulated in advance, with the main points summarized by the author at the symposium and discussed by a commentator and members of the audience.

On the final day, participants will join approximately 500 high school honor students selected by the American Academy of Achievement to continue discussions and participate in the Academy's program, which honors outstanding American leaders and innovators.

The following is a preliminary schedule for "Frontiers of the Mind in the Twenty-First Century." All sessions will be held in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E.

Interpreting services (American Sign Language, Contact Signing, Oral and/or Tactile) will be provided if requested five business days in advance of the event. Call (202) 707-6362 TTY and voice to make a specific request. For other ADA accommodations please contact the Library's ADA Coordinator at (202) 707-9948 TTY and (202) 707-7544 voice.

"FRONTIERS OF THE MIND IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY"
An international conference organized by the Library of Congress as part of its Bicentennial observances

To be held in the Library's Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building, June 15-17, 1999 Made possible through the generosity of the American Academy of Achievement and the Heinz Foundation

Schedule (as of June 8, 1999)

Tuesday, June 15

Welcome and Introduction: 9:00 a.m.:
James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress
Prosser Gifford, Director of Scholarly Programs, Library of Congress

Session 1: 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
CHAIR: Bruce Alberts, National Academy of Science

Cosmology:
Sir Martin Rees, Cambridge University
Marc Davis, University of California, Berkeley

Physics:
Leon Lederman, Fermi National Laboratory
Jerome Isaac Friedman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mathematics:
Philip A. Griffiths, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton University
Michael Monastyrsky, Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow

Session 2: 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
CHAIR: H. Patrick Swygert, Howard University

History and Society:
Emmanuel Le Roi Ladurie, Collège de France, Paris
Thomas P. Hughes, University of Pennsylvania

History and Politics:
Jonathan Spence, Yale University
Judith M. Brown, Oxford University

Political Philosophy:
Pierre Manent, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris
Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Session 3: 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
CHAIR: Rita Colwell, National Science Foundation

Genetics:
Eric Lander, Whitehead Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Baltimore, California Institute of  Technology

Neurobiology: Gerald Fischbach, National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, National Institutes of Health
Gerald Edelman, The Scripps Research Institute

Psychology:
Stephen Pinker, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Paula Tallal, Rutgers University

Wednesday, June 16

Session 4: 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
CHAIR: George Rupp, Columbia University

Religion and the State:
Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago
Mohammed Arkoun, La Sorbonne, Paris

Canonical Texts:
Michael Fishbane, University of Chicago
Mary Douglas, University College, London

Moral Philosophy:
Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Christine M. Korsgaard, Harvard University

Session 5: 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
CHAIR: Dennis O'Connor, Smithsonian Institution

Atmospheres and Oceans:
Wallace S. Broecker, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
Bert Bolin, Stockholm University

Earth Sciences:
Marcia McNutt, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Frank Press, National Academy of Sciences

Sustainability:
Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden

Session 6: 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
CHAIR: Prosser Gifford, Library of  Congress

Semiotics:
Vyacheslav Ivanov, University of California, Los Angeles

Music:
Charles Rosen, New York City
Kwabena Nketia, University of Ghana

Poetry:
Robert Pinsky, Boston University

Thursday, June 17

Session 7: 9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
CHAIR: (unconfirmed)

Economics:
Michael Woodford, Princeton University
Robert M. Solow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sociology:
Neil Smelser, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
Daniel Bell, Harvard University

Anthropology:
Ward Goodenough, University of Pennsylvania
Laura Nader, University of California, Berkeley

Session 8: 1:30 p.m. - 3 p.m.
CHAIR: (unconfirmed)

Cities:
Manuel Castells, University of California, Berkeley
Saskia Sassen, University of Chicago

Computer Science and Communication:
Raj Reddy, Carnegie Mellon University
Invited commentator: Nathan Myhrvold, Microsoft Corporation

Plenary Session: 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
CHAIR: James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress

International Relations and Foreign Policy:
Lee Hamilton, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars
Samuel Huntington, Harvard University
Richard Lugar, United States Senate
Paul Sarbanes, United States Senate