Program Coordinator – Future Humans

What We Do:

The mission of the Berggruen Institute (BI) is to ask questions and develop foundational ideas about how to reshape political and social institutions in a transforming society. We work across cultures, disciplines, and political boundaries to engage great thinkers in developing and promoting long-term answers to the biggest challenges of the 21st Century.

Our Values:

Respect the human dignity of all
Cultivate future-oriented solutions
Inquire with an open mind
Build a collaborative environment
Invest in people and relationships

Future Humans (FH):
A new Theme at the Berggruen Institute that convenes a wide range of thought leaders, including philosophers, artists, historians, technologists, scientists, and designers. We do experimental philosophy, writing, and new media projects around futures of life (biotechnology, synthetic biology, multispecies flourishing); futures of mind (AI, brain-machine interfaces, machine learning); and futures of outer space (extraterrestrial life, including human).

Future Humans is developing a community of researchers (scientists, philosophers, artists), to research and provide partial, aspirational answers to the question, what will life become? Our projects analyze shifting relationships between Earth and the cosmos, between biological and artificial forms of life, and between humans and non-human others. Our outputs will be books, interactive websites, and digital media. Future Humans will host a series of international invitational working groups, symposia, and Salons. We work closely with the Planetary Governance Theme and Antikythera.

Future Humans is seeking a Program Coordinator to support operations, project development, and events management. This position will work closely with our Public Programing team to execute all events, workshops, or salons; other Themes’ Coordinator(s) and Manager(s); and Event and Communications to project manage public-facing Future Humans content.

Skills and Experience:
The role is an exciting opportunity for a dedicated, highly organized, and flexible individual who is detail-oriented, a self-starter, has excellent verbal communication and collaboration skills, is adaptable and enjoys events production. A candidate with strong writing and/or visual background, plus familiarity with art, design, science, and philosophy, is preferred.

Please note, only candidates living in the Los Angeles area will be considered.

Future Humans Program Coordination – 60%:

  • Work closely with Future Humans Associate Director to coordinate timeline, production, and outputs of FH Projects, also in collaboration with other Themes
  • Arrange meetings for leadership and staff
  • Assist with layout, formatting, proofreading papers, briefs, and other written materials
  • Draft and manage correspondences, meeting notes and other materials
  • Organize and maintain written and electronic files, address/contact listings, and business card files
  • Maintain FH calendar and record of all related events and activities and conveys information to relevant BI staff
  • Keeps detailed and accurate records of event participants and materials
  • Works with Communications and Events teams to update website pages on the BI website
  • Performs other tasks as needed

Events, Communications, Operations – 40%:

  • Partner with Events and Communications teams to draft event descriptions and invitations
  • Send and manage invitations, reminders, and responses to internal and external partners
  • Serve as Point of Contact for participant and speakers
  • Coordinate and arrange participant travel and accommodations, including transfer to and from airport
  • Collate participant photos, bios, food restrictions, etc.
  • Assist with VISA letters
  • Provide participants with information on BI policies on sexual harassment, covered expenses, and reimbursements.
  • Service honoraria and reimbursements
  • Craft and send meeting packets and event reminders
  • Coordinate and execute pre/post dinners and other events
  • Develop, update, and maintain participant and key contacts lists
  • Welcoming and checking in event attendees
  • Corral participants to and from different sessions, venues, event spaces
  • Note-take at events
  • Perform other tasks as needed

Work Perks:

  • Competitive Compensation Package including Salary, Medical Benefits and Generous 401K Savings Plan
  • Hybrid office work model with flexibility
  • Paid vacation, sick, and holiday pay
  • Phone reimbursement
  • Dog-friendly workplace
  • Snacks and gourmet coffee!

Salary:
$21.63-$35.58 depending on skills and experience

Please email your cover letter and resume to Katherine Miller @ careers@berggruen.org. No phone calls please.

Berggruen Institute is a proud equal opportunities workplace. We firmly believe employing a diverse workforce is important regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. Berggruen Institute is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.


composed by Arswain
machine learning consultation by Anna Tskhovrebov
commissioned by the Berggruen Institute
premiered at the Bradbury Building
downtown Los Angeles
april 22, 2022

Human perception of what sounds “beautiful” is necessarily biased and exclusive. If we are to truly expand our hearing apparatus, and thus our notion of beauty, we must not only shed preconceived sonic associations but also invite creative participation from beings non-human and non-living. We must also begin to cede creative control away from ourselves and toward such beings by encouraging them to exercise their own standards of beauty and collaborate with each other.

Movement I: Alarm Call
‘Alarm Call’ is a long-form composition and sound collage that juxtaposes, combines, and manipulates alarm calls from various human, non-human, and non-living beings. Evolutionary biologists understand the alarm call to be an altruistic behavior between species, who, by warning others of danger, place themselves by instinct in a broader system of belonging. The piece poses the question: how might we hear better to broaden and enhance our sense of belonging in the universe? Might we behave more altruistically if we better heed the calls of – and call out to – non-human beings?

Using granular synthesis, biofeedback, and algorithmic modulation, I fold the human alarm call – the siren – into non-human alarm calls, generating novel “inter-being” sonic collaborations with increasing sophistication and complexity. 

Movement II: A.I.-Truism
A synthesizer piece co-written with an AI in the style of Vangelis’s Blade Runner score, to pay homage to the space of the Bradbury Building.

Movement III: Alarmism
A machine learning model “learns” A.I.Truism and recreates Alarm Call, generating an original fusion of the two.

Movement IV: A.I. Call
A machine learning model “learns” Alarm Call and recreates A.I.Truism, generating an original fusion of the two.


RAVE (IRCAM 2021) https://github.com/acids-ircam/RAVE