THE UPPER SCHOOL SYMPOSIUM ‘Chaos’ was the challenging theme for this year’s Symposium, offering students a chance for interdisciplinary free learning, discussion and debate, says Daniel Kamaluddin (Year 12)
O n 10 October 2022, Dulwich and SSLP students were treated to the delights of the twelfth annual Upper School Symposium. Picking up the baton from Ms Akrill, Mr Poynton and the Symposium team organised a tremendous day of free learning activities, providing students with the opportunity to engage with two world-class lectures as well as allowing us to choose from almost 30 staff-run workshops, diving deep into the theme of chaos via different areas of academic expertise. The day began with an incredibly engaging talk by Dr Mike Martin of King’s College London, kicking off the Symposium with an at times daunting consideration of the threat of war in the current geopolitical environment. This topic clearly engaged the audience, given the deluge of questions. The show-stopping end to the Symposium, and my personal highlight, was Professor Anil Seth’s talk on the mind-boggling problems we face in unravelling perception from reality. He began his talk with a series of optical and sensory illusions, before delving into the latest neuroscientific research from his book Being You: A New Science of Consciousness . The debate this started about personal identity and the problems of perception raged on in the library and the lunch hall for weeks afterwards. This was a truly wonderful opportunity to take a full day off-timetable, exploring this urgent theme, in what often feels like an ever-accelerating, ever more chaotic world. In my staff-led seminars, the first on the topic of revolu- tion with Dr Croally, and the second on the Beat Poets with Mr Trevill, the enthusiasm of both staff and students was palpable. It was so lovely to see teachers freed up to teach us about the thinkers and themes that inspired them to take up their profession in the first instance. ◎
Revolution in Theory and Practice: seminar with Dr Croally Oliver Green (Year 12) In 2021, the government banned the teaching of communist thought in the classroom. In revolutionary fashion, then, a keen Dr Croally projected a scarlet banner bearing the words ‘Revolution: in theory and practice’ onto the screen, against a backdrop of Bob Dylan. In contrast, six smartly suited students took their seats to challenge Marxist orthodoxy. The semi- nar began: a whistlestop tour of cycles of violence and repression, not dissimilar to disciplinary tactics in the classroom, student on teacher, culminating in defenc- es of Mao and Robespierre. We could all, no matter our political inclination, leave assured that we were equipped to topple the then government of Liz Truss. Revolution incited: Vive la révolution! Oxymoronically, the Symposium on the worryingly modern theme of ‘chaos’ opened in a very orderly fashion, with Dr Mike Martin’s keynote speech. Although initially sleepy, the audience was quickly brought to attention with discussion of increasing domestic and international chaos around the world as a result of the climate emergency, overpopulation in the Sahel and the shifting balance of global power towards the east and away from the west. The talk certainly brought us food for thought and it contextualized, at least for me, the chaos-inspired discussions that we had for the rest of the day. Alex Gerasimchuk (Year 12)
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