From the Mountain Village to the World: A Dialogue on Self, Space, and Community in the Dong People of Southwest China

Intellectual Focus Indigenous and Decentralised Wisdom Collective Intelligence and Participatory Practice Post-AI Humanism and Cultural Imagination Event Overview In the age of artificial intelligence, questions of how individuals connect, collaborate, and create meaning together have become newly urgent. This talk explores these questions through the lived experience of China’s Dong (Kam) communities, whose social harmony and communal decision-making have long relied on non-hierarchical communication, embodied in music, ritual, and space. Rather than presenting the Dong as an object of study, this conversation uses their example as a lens to rethink our own moment: what might their ways of listening, negotiating, and belonging teach us about building humane connections in the post-AI world? We hope to hear how scholars in literature, digital humanities, cross-cultural studies and creative practice approach similar questions in their own work. It aims to foster an interdisciplinary exchange on how narrative, art, and collective imagination might reshape human connection in a technological age. This event is open to all, with limited capacity. Those who wish to attend are encouraged to reserve a free ticket in advance - ticket holders will be given priority entry. We look forward to seeing you at Downing College for an evening of thought, music, and dialogue.