“Trauma and Healing”
May 24-31, 2024
Imin Conference Center
For eighty-five years, the East-West Philosophers’ Conference series has convened some of the world’s most prominent philosophers to engage in impactful dialogues on themes of global significance. The dialogue began in 1939 when three University of Hawai‘i visionaries—Professors Charles A. Moore, Wing-tsit Chan, and Gregg Sinclair—initiated the first East-West Philosophers’ Conference in Honolulu. Its aim was to explore the significance of Eastern ways of thinking as a complement to Western thought, and to distill a possible synthesis of the ideas and ideals that are aspired to in these unique traditions. Cross-cultural philosophy has evolved from this earliest idea to pursue mutual respect and accommodation among the world’s cultures, with conferences continuing to be held in 1949, 1959, 1964, 1969, 1989, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2011, and 2016.
The East-West Philosophers’ Conference series is the premier forum for convening philosophers from across the academy who are committed to
cross-cultural inquiry. The Conference is the oldest continuous international gathering in Hawai‘i and has been a model of productive collaboration between the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and the East-West Center for decades. This year, over 325 participants from Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas responded to our Call for Papers.
Tamara Albertini, Co-director and UHM Professor of Philosophy
Hawai’i State Governor Josh Green
UH President David Lassner
UHM CALL Dean Peter Arnade
Dr. Noboru Maruyama, Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education, Japan
Plenary Session 1 – Trauma & Healing in the Zen Buddhism of D. T. Suzuki
Plenary Session 2 – Healing from the Trauma of Conditioned Existence: Classical Indian Philosophy and the Suffering of Being
Plenary Session 3 – Continental Perspectives on Trauma and Healing
Plenary Session 4- Emotional Suffering in Ancient Greek Thought
Keynote 1 – “The Ethnography of the Private Sphere” by Ato Quayson
Meleanna Meyer, Remarks on her canvas ‘Aina Aloha (2016)
Plenary Session 5 – Philosophy of Trauma and World Development
Indigenous Women’s Roundtable: Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma and Healing Through Art (Chair: EWC President Suzanne Vares-Lum) Mililani Trask (OHA Trustee), Meleanna Meyer (Artist and Professor of Art), Māhealani Ahia (PhD candidate, UHM English Department)