Practical
Monday, 3 March, 2025
- 18:00 until 20:00
Free of charge
“At the very same moment when the whole world is at our fingertips, it also seems completely out of our hands.”
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to an evening with anthropologist Tim Ingold as part of the lecture series ‘Ties That Bind Us’. He encourages us to reconsider humanity’s place within the natural world.
For centuries, the Western doctrine of progress positioned humans as rulers of creation, fueling advances in science and technology but at the cost of deepening social inequality and environmental harm.
During this evening, Ingold outlines his vision for a “new humanism” — a perspective that recognizes humans as distinct yet integrally connected to the web of life. Rather than seeing ourselves as detached “beings”, Ingold argues that we are "becomings," continually shaping and being shaped by the world around us. He urges us to embrace a new role not as conquerors of nature but as caretakers, acknowledging our central responsibility within a shared life on Earth.
At Vrije Universiteit Brussel, you’re free to ask questions, make up your own minds and to change your opinions. Join us to discuss with Tim Ingold what it means to be human in an interdependent world.
Programme
- 5.30PM: Doors open
- 6PM:
- Lecture by Tim Ingold
- Discussion with Tim Ingold and Alice Vittoria
- Discussion with the audience
- 8PM: End
About Tim Ingold
Prof. dr. Tim Ingold (University of Aberdeen) is a British anthropologist whose work spans a vast array of topics, from human-environment interactions and the role of perception in understanding the world, to more abstract concepts like movement, creativity, and the entanglement of human lives with materiality. He is known for breaking down traditional divides between anthropology, philosophy, and the natural sciences, advocating for a view that sees humans as inherently interwoven with the landscapes and materials they inhabit.
Ingold’s work is essential for anyone interested in understanding human experience in relation to the material world and has had a profound impact on fields beyond anthropology, including art, design, and ecology. His ideas prompt a rethinking of human existence not as isolated or dominant but as profoundly interconnected with the ongoing life of the world.
This event is part of the Ties That Bind Us series.
About Ties That Bind Us: transcultural perspectives on social forms
A cross-disciplinary series organised at the Faculty of Languages and Humanities for VUB’s Public Programme
The impact of global and geopolitical crises on European societies is widely felt. Common reactions to these are a growing societal divide and a rise in anti-democratic positions. The public imaginary is rife with a rhetoric dominated by the erection of walls, the demarcation of territory and claims of ownership. Crushed between polarised camps are vulnerable members of our societies – and thus humanity itself. Individuals with their complex identities are categorised into groups whose belonging, right to existence even, is called into question. Understanding the realities of diversity and change as given, the series “Ties that Bind Us” seeks to create a platform for a wide range of perspectives, life experiences and cultures of knowledge about forms of kinship, solidarity and conviviality – or, in other words, a counter-imaginary space to an increasingly widespread, yet dangerously reductive binary thinking.
"Walls, whether metaphoric or tangible, not only separate humans but also distance us from the broader web of life: the animals, plants and ecosystems with which we share an increasingly vulnerable planet. Ties That Bind Us challenges the nature/culture divide that makes us often indifferent to the ecological challenges we face with growing urgency."
The world needs you
This initiative is part of VUB's public programme: a programme for everyone who believes that scientific knowledge sharing, critical thinking and dialogue are an important first step to create impact in the world.
As an Urban Engaged University, VUB aims to be a driver of change in the world. With our academic edcuational programmes and innovative research, we contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and to making a difference locally and globally.
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