WHAT Are the Existential Posthumanism conferences?
Existential Posthumanism as a Living Inquiry
This cycle of international conferences is conceived as a living, relational inquiry into Existential Posthumanism — not as a closed doctrine, but as an open, evolving field of thought, practice, and collective becoming. Its purpose is to cultivate a deep, plural, and articulated reflection on what it means to exist, think, feel, and act beyond anthropocentric paradigms, at a time of profound planetary, existential, and ethical transformation. Bringing together scholars, researchers, artists, designers, activists, and practitioners, the series creates a shared space where theoretical reflection and embodied practice are inseparable. Existential Posthumanism is explored from multiple positions and disciplines, yet always grounded in a common commitment to relationality, non-anthropocentrism, and responsibility within a more-than-human world. The conferences thus function as crossroads of knowledge, experience, and care, where diverse voices converge without being homogenized.
Beyond Definition: Existential Posthumanism as Lived Condition
The aim of these gatherings is not merely to define, systematize, or delimit Existential Posthumanism as a theoretical paradigm. Rather, the conferences pose a more radical and transformative question: "What does it mean to exist in posthuman terms — here and now?". From this perspective, Existential Posthumanism is approached as both a philosophical framework and a lived existential condition. The conferences engage foundational questions that cut across disciplines and forms of life: Who are we beyond the fiction of the autonomous human subject? How do we come into being through relations, dependencies, vulnerabilities, and affects? How do we situate ourselves as individuals, as collectives, as a species, and as part of a planetary assemblage of human and non-human agents?
These questions are not addressed abstractly, but are inhabited, felt, and collectively explored, recognizing that thinking itself is always embodied, situated, and relational.
Theory and Praxis: An Integrated Methodology
A defining feature of the conference series is the radical integration of theory and praxis. Conceptual rigor remains central and uncompromised; however, theory is continuously placed in dialogue with lived experience, embodied experimentation, and relational practices. In this sense, theory becomes a tool for orientation and sense-making, while praxis becomes a site of verification, transformation, and ethical awakening. Sessions are conceived as laboratories of thought-in-action, where philosophical inquiry intersects with artistic practice, design research, ethical reflection, and collective experimentation. Knowledge is not transmitted hierarchically, but generated through encounter, resonance, and critical dialogue.
An Innovative Academic Format: Time, Dialogue, and Depth
Operating within academic parameters, the conference proposes a new approach to scholarly exchange. All speakers are offered equal presentation slots; however, these are intentionally conceived as shorter interventions (approximately 5–8 minutes). This format prioritizes clarity, intensity, and conceptual focus, while deliberately freeing substantial time for extended dialogue. The remaining session time is dedicated to: collective discussion among presenters; dialogue with the audience; emergent questions and shared reflection. This structure resists extractive, monologic modes of knowledge delivery and instead fosters slow thinking, collective sense-making, and intellectual co-presence.
Workshops and First-Hand Experience
Alongside paper sessions, the conference includes a strong workshop component, designed to allow participants to experience existential posthumanist practices first-hand. These workshops create spaces for embodied, relational, and affective exploration, enabling participants to engage posthumanist concepts not only cognitively, but experientially. Workshops function as sites where theory is tested through practice, and where participants can explore alternative modes of attention, relationality, care, and co-existence within more-than-human contexts.
Circles, Collective Presence, and Daily Shared Experience
Central to the conference structure are daily collective moments organized in circles, typically at the opening and closing of each day. These circles are not ancillary, but foundational to the conference’s epistemic and ethical framework. They provide time and space for everyone to express, to listen, and to be listened to — beyond disciplinary hierarchies, academic status, or institutional roles. Within these shared moments, participants are invited to articulate reflections, emotions, resonances, and questions emerging from both the sessions and their own lived experiences. These circles support processes of collective attunement and awakening, cultivating a sense of shared responsibility, relational awareness, and existential presence. They enable the conference to function not only as an academic event, but as a temporary community of practice and care.
Situated Knowledge and Relational Geographies
Each conference remains deeply connected to the specific cultural, social, and ecological context in which it takes place. Local dynamics are not treated as background, but as active participants in the process of knowledge production. In this way, the conference becomes a situated ecosystem, shaped by its geographical, cultural, and more-than-human relations.
A Network of Becoming
Ultimately, this conference series is not an endpoint, but a temporary node within a broader posthumanist constellation. The intellectual, affective, institutional, and more-than-human relationships that emerge extend beyond the event itself, generating continuity, collaboration, and long-term ethical engagement.
This cycle of international conferences is conceived as a living, relational inquiry into Existential Posthumanism — not as a closed doctrine, but as an open, evolving field of thought, practice, and collective becoming. Its purpose is to cultivate a deep, plural, and articulated reflection on what it means to exist, think, feel, and act beyond anthropocentric paradigms, at a time of profound planetary, existential, and ethical transformation. Bringing together scholars, researchers, artists, designers, activists, and practitioners, the series creates a shared space where theoretical reflection and embodied practice are inseparable. Existential Posthumanism is explored from multiple positions and disciplines, yet always grounded in a common commitment to relationality, non-anthropocentrism, and responsibility within a more-than-human world. The conferences thus function as crossroads of knowledge, experience, and care, where diverse voices converge without being homogenized.
Beyond Definition: Existential Posthumanism as Lived Condition
The aim of these gatherings is not merely to define, systematize, or delimit Existential Posthumanism as a theoretical paradigm. Rather, the conferences pose a more radical and transformative question: "What does it mean to exist in posthuman terms — here and now?". From this perspective, Existential Posthumanism is approached as both a philosophical framework and a lived existential condition. The conferences engage foundational questions that cut across disciplines and forms of life: Who are we beyond the fiction of the autonomous human subject? How do we come into being through relations, dependencies, vulnerabilities, and affects? How do we situate ourselves as individuals, as collectives, as a species, and as part of a planetary assemblage of human and non-human agents?
These questions are not addressed abstractly, but are inhabited, felt, and collectively explored, recognizing that thinking itself is always embodied, situated, and relational.
Theory and Praxis: An Integrated Methodology
A defining feature of the conference series is the radical integration of theory and praxis. Conceptual rigor remains central and uncompromised; however, theory is continuously placed in dialogue with lived experience, embodied experimentation, and relational practices. In this sense, theory becomes a tool for orientation and sense-making, while praxis becomes a site of verification, transformation, and ethical awakening. Sessions are conceived as laboratories of thought-in-action, where philosophical inquiry intersects with artistic practice, design research, ethical reflection, and collective experimentation. Knowledge is not transmitted hierarchically, but generated through encounter, resonance, and critical dialogue.
An Innovative Academic Format: Time, Dialogue, and Depth
Operating within academic parameters, the conference proposes a new approach to scholarly exchange. All speakers are offered equal presentation slots; however, these are intentionally conceived as shorter interventions (approximately 5–8 minutes). This format prioritizes clarity, intensity, and conceptual focus, while deliberately freeing substantial time for extended dialogue. The remaining session time is dedicated to: collective discussion among presenters; dialogue with the audience; emergent questions and shared reflection. This structure resists extractive, monologic modes of knowledge delivery and instead fosters slow thinking, collective sense-making, and intellectual co-presence.
Workshops and First-Hand Experience
Alongside paper sessions, the conference includes a strong workshop component, designed to allow participants to experience existential posthumanist practices first-hand. These workshops create spaces for embodied, relational, and affective exploration, enabling participants to engage posthumanist concepts not only cognitively, but experientially. Workshops function as sites where theory is tested through practice, and where participants can explore alternative modes of attention, relationality, care, and co-existence within more-than-human contexts.
Circles, Collective Presence, and Daily Shared Experience
Central to the conference structure are daily collective moments organized in circles, typically at the opening and closing of each day. These circles are not ancillary, but foundational to the conference’s epistemic and ethical framework. They provide time and space for everyone to express, to listen, and to be listened to — beyond disciplinary hierarchies, academic status, or institutional roles. Within these shared moments, participants are invited to articulate reflections, emotions, resonances, and questions emerging from both the sessions and their own lived experiences. These circles support processes of collective attunement and awakening, cultivating a sense of shared responsibility, relational awareness, and existential presence. They enable the conference to function not only as an academic event, but as a temporary community of practice and care.
Situated Knowledge and Relational Geographies
Each conference remains deeply connected to the specific cultural, social, and ecological context in which it takes place. Local dynamics are not treated as background, but as active participants in the process of knowledge production. In this way, the conference becomes a situated ecosystem, shaped by its geographical, cultural, and more-than-human relations.
A Network of Becoming
Ultimately, this conference series is not an endpoint, but a temporary node within a broader posthumanist constellation. The intellectual, affective, institutional, and more-than-human relationships that emerge extend beyond the event itself, generating continuity, collaboration, and long-term ethical engagement.
SECOND "EXISTENTIAL POSTHUMANISM" CONFERENCE: "Making Self, Making World",
PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY, (KOLKATA, INDIA 2026)
Department of English, Presidency University, Kolkata, Global Posthuman Network, and Indian Posthumanism Network invite you to the:
Second World Colloquium on Existential Posthumanism
Posthuman Renaissance(s) – Making Self, Making World
To be held at Presidency University, Kolkata, January 14-17 2026.
Info: https://puconference20262.wixsite.com/pu-conference
Second World Colloquium on Existential Posthumanism
Posthuman Renaissance(s) – Making Self, Making World
To be held at Presidency University, Kolkata, January 14-17 2026.
Info: https://puconference20262.wixsite.com/pu-conference
FIRST "EXISTENTIAL POSTHUMANISM" CONFERENCE: "Re-embracing Our Vital Sense",
UNIVERSITY TECNOLOGICO DE MONTERREY (PUEBLA, MEXICO 2025)
The first world Colloquium on "Existential Posthumanism: Re-embracing Our Vital Sense" will be held at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Puebla, Mexico, May 28-30 2025. Keynote: Francesca Ferrando.
Info: https://posthumanexist.weebly.com/
Info: https://posthumanexist.weebly.com/
We are excited to announce that this Conference was a great success: experiential and experimental, offering not only academic debates and conferences, but also activities in local places of interest. We are delighted to share some snapshots from the First World Colloquium on Existential Posthumanism (May 27–30, 2025, Puebla, Mexico), where inspiring academics, artists, scientists, seekers, and activists gathered from across the globe to explore, collectively, the theme "Re-embracing Our Vital Sense".
Posthumanism was there envisioned as a philosophy of Life capable of responding to the profound challenges of the twenty-first century at the individual, social, and planetary level. Posthumanism in its existential sense! The encounter between old and new members of our Global Network was reflected in the variety of contributions offered, ranging from human–nonhuman relationship to the challenges of AI, and from the entanglement of gender and postcolonial perspectives to ecological concerns—all converging to shape a vision of posthumanity that is inclusive, pluralistic, affirmative, attentive to complexity, and grounded in lived experience.
The wonderful setting in Puebla and its surroundings also became a protagonist in this special event through activities both on campus and beyond: at the base of ancient pyramids, in the proximity of a volcano - spaces where interspecies and intersubjective awareness could be enacted in the vibrant flow of existence! Artistic moments, philosophical dialogues, and convivial encounters intertwined throughout, reaffirming that posthumanism is both a practice of knowledge production and a way of inhabiting life.
Posthumanism was there envisioned as a philosophy of Life capable of responding to the profound challenges of the twenty-first century at the individual, social, and planetary level. Posthumanism in its existential sense! The encounter between old and new members of our Global Network was reflected in the variety of contributions offered, ranging from human–nonhuman relationship to the challenges of AI, and from the entanglement of gender and postcolonial perspectives to ecological concerns—all converging to shape a vision of posthumanity that is inclusive, pluralistic, affirmative, attentive to complexity, and grounded in lived experience.
The wonderful setting in Puebla and its surroundings also became a protagonist in this special event through activities both on campus and beyond: at the base of ancient pyramids, in the proximity of a volcano - spaces where interspecies and intersubjective awareness could be enacted in the vibrant flow of existence! Artistic moments, philosophical dialogues, and convivial encounters intertwined throughout, reaffirming that posthumanism is both a practice of knowledge production and a way of inhabiting life.
THIRD "EXISTENTIAL POSTHUMANISM" CONFERENCE (ITALy 2026)
To be announced soon!
GUIDELINES FOR ORGANIZERS
PRE-CONFERENCE · Preparation and Context
Previous events:
This is the link to the presentation of the “Existential Posthumanism” Conference Series:
https://www.posthumans.org/exisential-posthumanism---conference-series.html
The first Conference on “Existential Posthumanism: Re-embracing Our Vital Sense” was held at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Puebla, Mexico, May 28–30, 2025:
https://posthumanexist.weebly.com/
The second Conference on “Making Self Making Worlds: Posthuman Renaissance(s)” will be held at Presidency University, Kolkata, India, January 14–17, 2025:
https://puconference20262.wixsite.com/pu-conference
Funding
The economic sustainability of the event is grounded in a clear understanding of the resources available at the host institution. The presence of dedicated funds allows not only for the organization of the conference, but also for concrete support for the participation of one or more keynote speakers from the Global Posthuman Network. It is particularly significant when support is provided, where possible, through direct payment of travel, accommodation, and meals, rather than through reimbursement after the event.
Spaces
The quality of the conference experience emerges from the availability of multiple and flexible spaces. In particular:
a large room for plenary sessions, capable of accommodating collective, experiential, and embodied practices (sharing circles, reflective exercises, relational practices);
at least two, ideally three, additional rooms for parallel sessions, fostering a multiplicity of voices and pathways.
Outdoor spaces are also considered an essential component of the conference ecology. When available, gardens, courtyards, or open-air environments are intentionally integrated into the program, offering opportunities for informal dialogue, embodied reflection, workshops, and moments of reconnection with the more-than-human world. These spaces support alternative rhythms of interaction and deepen the situated, ecological, and relational dimensions of the conference experience.
Economic Accessibility
Participation fees are conceived as tools of inclusion. Their modulation takes into account the economic, institutional, and geographical differences among participants, with the aim of reducing barriers to access as much as possible.
Shared Planning
The organizational process develops through continuous dialogue between the host institution and the Global Posthuman Network. The presence of a dedicated contact person facilitates a smooth, relational, and non-hierarchical collaboration.
Institutional Recognition
The Global Posthuman Network is recognized as a co-organizer of the event, with explicit visibility in all official materials (posters, website, programs, communications).
Communication and Materials
The creation of the website, posters, and informational materials is managed by the host institution in collaboration with the GPN, through a process of co-creation that reflects the values of relational posthumanism.
DURING THE CONFERENCE · Time, Experience, Relationship
Temporal Rhythm
Conference time is conceived as “extended time.” The days begin and end with a circle lasting at least one hour: a discursive and relational space for sharing reflections, experiences, and existential resonances, including those emerging from participants’ personal lived experiences.
Plurality of Practices
Sessions are not understood exclusively as moments of theoretical presentation, but as occasions for conceptual, embodied, and experiential traversal, in line with a non-anthropocentric posthumanist approach.
ABSTRACTS & PROPOSALS · Care of the Evaluation Process
Welcoming
Proposals and abstracts are generally welcomed as contributions to an evolving conversation. The selection process prioritizes inclusion and dialogue.
Shared Evaluation
Any observations are formulated in terms of issues or questions (for example: temporal coherence, emerging ethical concerns, conceptual clarity) and are discussed collectively by multiple reviewers, avoiding isolated decisions.
Affirmative Feedback
Even in the rare cases of non-acceptance, communication is oriented toward dignity, care, and the possibility of improvement. Rejection is not understood as exclusion, but as an invitation to further reflective work.
POST-CONFERENCE ·Continuity and Resonance
Traces and Memory
The event does not end with its conclusion. Materials, recordings, texts, and reflections are collected and shared, nourishing a collective and processual memory.
Future Relations
The conference is understood as a temporary node within a broader network. The relationships that emerge—intellectual, affective, and institutional—are cultivated as an integral part of the posthumanist project.
Previous events:
This is the link to the presentation of the “Existential Posthumanism” Conference Series:
https://www.posthumans.org/exisential-posthumanism---conference-series.html
The first Conference on “Existential Posthumanism: Re-embracing Our Vital Sense” was held at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Puebla, Mexico, May 28–30, 2025:
https://posthumanexist.weebly.com/
The second Conference on “Making Self Making Worlds: Posthuman Renaissance(s)” will be held at Presidency University, Kolkata, India, January 14–17, 2025:
https://puconference20262.wixsite.com/pu-conference
Funding
The economic sustainability of the event is grounded in a clear understanding of the resources available at the host institution. The presence of dedicated funds allows not only for the organization of the conference, but also for concrete support for the participation of one or more keynote speakers from the Global Posthuman Network. It is particularly significant when support is provided, where possible, through direct payment of travel, accommodation, and meals, rather than through reimbursement after the event.
Spaces
The quality of the conference experience emerges from the availability of multiple and flexible spaces. In particular:
a large room for plenary sessions, capable of accommodating collective, experiential, and embodied practices (sharing circles, reflective exercises, relational practices);
at least two, ideally three, additional rooms for parallel sessions, fostering a multiplicity of voices and pathways.
Outdoor spaces are also considered an essential component of the conference ecology. When available, gardens, courtyards, or open-air environments are intentionally integrated into the program, offering opportunities for informal dialogue, embodied reflection, workshops, and moments of reconnection with the more-than-human world. These spaces support alternative rhythms of interaction and deepen the situated, ecological, and relational dimensions of the conference experience.
Economic Accessibility
Participation fees are conceived as tools of inclusion. Their modulation takes into account the economic, institutional, and geographical differences among participants, with the aim of reducing barriers to access as much as possible.
Shared Planning
The organizational process develops through continuous dialogue between the host institution and the Global Posthuman Network. The presence of a dedicated contact person facilitates a smooth, relational, and non-hierarchical collaboration.
Institutional Recognition
The Global Posthuman Network is recognized as a co-organizer of the event, with explicit visibility in all official materials (posters, website, programs, communications).
Communication and Materials
The creation of the website, posters, and informational materials is managed by the host institution in collaboration with the GPN, through a process of co-creation that reflects the values of relational posthumanism.
DURING THE CONFERENCE · Time, Experience, Relationship
Temporal Rhythm
Conference time is conceived as “extended time.” The days begin and end with a circle lasting at least one hour: a discursive and relational space for sharing reflections, experiences, and existential resonances, including those emerging from participants’ personal lived experiences.
Plurality of Practices
Sessions are not understood exclusively as moments of theoretical presentation, but as occasions for conceptual, embodied, and experiential traversal, in line with a non-anthropocentric posthumanist approach.
ABSTRACTS & PROPOSALS · Care of the Evaluation Process
Welcoming
Proposals and abstracts are generally welcomed as contributions to an evolving conversation. The selection process prioritizes inclusion and dialogue.
Shared Evaluation
Any observations are formulated in terms of issues or questions (for example: temporal coherence, emerging ethical concerns, conceptual clarity) and are discussed collectively by multiple reviewers, avoiding isolated decisions.
Affirmative Feedback
Even in the rare cases of non-acceptance, communication is oriented toward dignity, care, and the possibility of improvement. Rejection is not understood as exclusion, but as an invitation to further reflective work.
POST-CONFERENCE ·Continuity and Resonance
Traces and Memory
The event does not end with its conclusion. Materials, recordings, texts, and reflections are collected and shared, nourishing a collective and processual memory.
Future Relations
The conference is understood as a temporary node within a broader network. The relationships that emerge—intellectual, affective, and institutional—are cultivated as an integral part of the posthumanist project.
