How has the rapid evolution of technology shaped the habits and worldviews of each generation of Americans? How might technologies like generative artificial intelligence or smartphones affect thinking about human dignity, personhood, and God? Is our increasingly mechanized and technological society conducive to human flourishing or is it driving people into impoverished habits of living? What is the role of the state in protecting children online?
Join the Acton Institute for a conference on “The Person and Technological Society” in San Diego, CA. Over two and a half days, participants will hear engaging presentations from leading scholars on the social, philosophical, and theological implications of modern technology. Ultimately, this conference will equip participants with a better understanding of the “technological landscape,” its social implications, and principles and policies for navigating it.
Conference details
This is a small conference. Participants will have the opportunity to engage the speakers and other attendees throughout the weekend in a relaxed and comfortable setting including nice meals and evening soirées.
Space is limited and conference attendance is considered by application only. This conference is ideal for graduate students, young public policy professionals, nonprofit professionals, and pastors and lay staff, but applications of all backgrounds will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Conference fees, meals, lodging, and travel will be covered for accepted applicants. Accepted participants will also receive copies of Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future by Jean Twenge.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the event, please email Caleb Whitmer at cwhitmer@acton.org.
OUR SPEAKERS
Jean M. Twenge
Professor of Psychology
San Diego State University
Jean M. Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, is the author of more than 180 scientific publications and seven books, including Generations: The Real Differences between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future and iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood. She holds a BA and MA from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She writes the Generation Tech substack.
Jordan Wales Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Hillsdale College
Jordan Wales is an Associate Professor and the John and Helen Kuczmarski Chair in Theology at Hillsdale College. His scholarship focuses on early Christian understandings of seeing God as well as contemporary theological and philosophical questions relating to Artificial Intelligence. He is published in Augustinian Studies and AI & Society, among other journals; he is an advisor to the Holy See’s new Center for Digital Culture, under the Pontifical Council for Culture; and he is an affiliated scholar with the Centre for Humanity and the Common Good at Regent College, University of British Columbia. He received his M.T.S. and Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame after studying under a British Marshall Scholarship in the U.K., where he received a Diploma in Theology from Oxford and a M.Sc. in Cognitive Science and Natural Language from the University of Edinburgh. He is a recipient of a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
Dan Churchwell M.A.
Director of Programs & education
Acton Institute
Dr. Anthony Bradley is Distinguished Research Fellow at the Acton Institute, having previously served as an affiliate scholar and research fellow with Acton since 2002. Prior to joining Acton full time, Dr. Bradley was Professor of Religious Studies at The King’s College in New York City where he also served as director for the Center for the Study of Human Flourishing. Dr. Bradley is the author of several books including The Political Economy of Liberation: Thomas Sowell and James Cone on the Black Experience, Black and Tired: Essays on Race, Politics, Culture, and International Development, Liberating Black Theology: The Bible and the Black Experience in America, Ending Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration, and co-editor of John Rawls and Christian Social Engagement: Justice As Unfairness.
Michael Matheson Miller
Chief of Strategic Initiatives and Senior Research Fellow
Acton Institute
Michael Matheson Miller is Chief of Strategic Initiatives at the Acton Institute. With some 10 years of international experience, Miller has lived and traveled in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He lectures internationally on such themes as moral philosophy, economic development, and social theory, and entrepreneurship. He is a frequent guest on radio and has been published in The Washington Times, The Detroit News, The L.A. Daily News, and Real Clear Politics. He is the director and host of the PovertyCure DVD Series and has appeared in various video curricula including Doing the Right Thing, Effective Stewardship, and the Birth of Freedom.
Much of his current work at the Acton Institute involves leading PovertyCure, promoting entrepreneurial solutions to poverty in the developing world. Before coming to Acton, he spent three years at Ave Maria College of the Americas in Nicaragua where he taught philosophy and political science and was the chair of the philosophy and theology department.
Miller received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. from Nagoya University’s Graduate School of International Development (Japan), an M.A. in philosophy from Franciscan University, and an M.B.A. in International Management from Thunderbird Graduate School of Global Business. He serves on the President’s Advisory Council of Aquinas College in Nashville, the board of the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project, and the board of trustees for Angelico Press.