KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format.
Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923
Spring-Summer 2026 KLI Colloquium Series
12 March 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
What Is Biological Modality, and What Has It Got to Do With Psychology?
Carrie Figdor (University of Iowa)
26 March 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
The Science of an Evolutionary Transition in Humans
Tim Waring (University of Maine)
9 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Hierarchies and Power in Primatology and Their Populist Appropriation
Rebekka Hufendiek (Ulm University)
16 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
A Metaphysics for Dialectical Biology
Denis Walsh (University of Toronto)
30 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
What's in a Trait? Reconceptualizing Neurodevelopmental Timing by Seizing Insights From Philosophy
Isabella Sarto-Jackson (KLI)
7 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
The Evolutionary Trajectory of Human Hippocampal-Cortical Interactions
Daniel Reznik (Max Planck Society)
21 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Why Directionality Emerged in Multicellular Differentiation
Somya Mani (KLI)
28 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
The Interplay of Tissue Mechanics and Gene Regulatory Networks in the Evolution of Morphogenesis
James DiFrisco (Francis Crick Institute)
11 June 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Brave Genomes: Genome Plasticity in the Face of Environmental Challenge
Silvia Bulgheresi (University of Vienna)
25 June 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Anne LeMaitre (KLI)
KLI Colloquia 2014 – 2026
Event Details
The British embryologist and geneticist Conrad Hal Waddington is celebrated in biological historiography and contemporary scientific practice for his theoretical and conceptual contributions to fields like systems biology, epigenetics, and evolutionary developmental biology. Recent years have borne witness to a burgeoning meta-scientific interest in Waddington, as historians and philosophers have begun to scrutinize diverse facets of his oeuvre. These important investigations notwithstanding, the expansive scope of Waddington’s body of work remains underexplored. His extensive repertoire of research undertakings spans a wide spectrum, addressing topics such as the interplay between science and ethics, the intersections of visual arts and scientific inquiry, the nature and evolution of cognition and agency, theoretical tools for systemic thinking and societal problem-solving, the environmental consequences of human activities, and the “science of human settlements” (Ekistics). As we approach the 50th anniversary of Waddington's passing in 2025, the occasion becomes ripe for embarking on a systematic exploration of his manifold legacies, his influences and shortcomings, his socio-cultural and institutional arenas, his interdisciplinary network of interlocutors across the natural and social sciences, the arts and the humanities, and the enduring resonance of his ideas within and outside the life sciences. This workshop aims to gather a group of 15 philosophers and historians hailing from diverse backgrounds to offer the first interdisciplinary re-appraisal of Waddington’s life-long contributions over two and a half days of activities.
PROGRAM:
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Tuesday 17 June |
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18:00 – 21:00 |
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Welcome reception at the KLI (buffet with warm and cold food, vegetarian and non-vegetarian options) |
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Wednesday 18 June |
Morning |
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9:00 – 9:15 |
Organizers |
Welcome address and introduction |
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Session 1: The Known Waddington? The Life of Waddingtonian Metaphors and Models |
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9:20 – 10:05 |
Laura Nuño de la Rosa |
From Metaphors to Models: The Operationalisation of Waddington’s Ideas |
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10:10 –10:55 |
Scott Gilbert |
Quiet Pools: The Epigenetic Landscape as an Attractor for Biological Models |
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11:00 – 11:25 |
Coffee Break |
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Session 2: Rethinking Waddington’s Impact on Evolutionary Biology |
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11:25 – 12:10 |
Kevin Lala & John Odling-Smee |
Waddington’s Legacy for Evolutionary Biology |
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12:15 – 13:00 |
Laurent Loison |
How to Evolve Canalization? Conceptualizing Canalizing Selection in the Age of Quantitative Genetics |
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13:00 – 15:00 |
Lunch |
at the KLI |
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Wednesday 18 June |
Afternoon |
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15:00 – 15:45 |
Alejandra Petino Zappala
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“The Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated”: Reassessing Waddington’s Legacy Before Evo-Devo |
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Session 3: Caught Between Organisms and Genes: The Arc of Waddington’s Thought |
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15:50 – 16:35 |
Sahotra Sarkar |
Waddington and the Reign of the Gene |
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16:40 – 17:10 |
Coffee Break |
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17:10 – 17:55 |
Matthew Sims & Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda |
Waddington’s Agential Turn |
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18:00 |
Dinner |
Departure for dinner at Stiftsrestaurant Leopold, Klosterneuburg |
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Thursday 19 June |
Morning |
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Session 4: Tracing the Philosophical Roots and Contexts of Waddingtonian Theorizing |
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9:30 – 10:15 |
Cassandra Zie Yang |
Waddington’s Epigenetic Epistemology |
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10:20 – 11:05 |
Jan Baedke |
From Philosophy to Equations: Waddington and the Shifting Landscape of Theoretical Biology |
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11:10 – 11:30 |
Coffee Break |
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Session 5: Visual Thinking and Aesthetics in Waddington’s Work |
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11:30 – 12:15 |
Guido I. Prieto |
Conrad Hal Waddington and the Aesthetics of Organicism |
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12:20 – 13:05 |
Shani Inbar & Eva Jablonka
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Visual Metaphors and the Crisis of Objectivity: Waddington’s Landscape as a Kantian Response |
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13:05 – 15:00 |
Lunch |
at the KLI |
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Thursday 19 June |
Afternoon |
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Session 6: Waddington’s Views on Science, Ethics, and Politics, and the Ethics and Politics of Waddington’s Scientific Work |
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15:00 – 15:45 |
Adam Scarfe |
Waddington, Biological Wisdom, and Neo-Darwinian Technologies of the Human Future |
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15:50 – 16:35 |
Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda |
Attitudinal Matters: Society, Normativity, and Naturalism in Waddingtonian Philosophy of Science |
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16:35 – 17:05 |
Coffee Break |
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17:05 – 17:50 |
Maurizio Meloni |
Biology Without Empire? Rereading Waddington from a Decolonial Perspective |
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18:00 |
Dinner |
Departure for dinner at a Heuriger |
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Friday 20 June |
Morning |
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Session 7: (De/Re)Localizing Waddingtonian Legacies: From Human Environments to More-Than-Human Entanglements |
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9:30 – 10:15 |
Panayiota Pyla |
Ekistics’ Waddington, or: C.H. Waddington from the Perspective of Doxiadis’s Environmental Ethos |
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10:15 – 11:00 |
Francisco Vergara-Silva |
Waddington in the Forest(s): Open Dialogues Between ‘Relational Biologies,’ the ‘Ontological Turn,’ and ‘Multispecies Studies’ |
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11:00 – 11:30 |
Coffee Break |
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11:30 – 11:45 |
Kalevi Kull Reflections | ||
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11:45 – 12:30 |
Closing Discussion |
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12:30 – 14:00 |
Farewell Lunch |
at the KLI |
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