We are delighted to announce that our next NY Posthuman Fall Summit is scheduled for Saturday, November 16th, to be held at NYU, 4.00-7.00 pm. After the event, we will hold an optional dinner from 7.30 to 9.30 pm - more details in the third section of this email. This will be an extraordinary Summit: we are looking forward to seeing you again and keeping developing together the posthuman turn!
Ps. Please, note that these events usually get fully booked, so if you are planning to attend, make sure to RSVP as soon as possible.
1. NY Posthuman Winter Summit 2019
(Program and RSVP)
We are truly excited to present our next speakers, who are coming from different states and countries to bring their visions on the posthuman turn. This is our highly promising outline:
Invited Speakers
1. Prof. Philip Butler
Talk: "The Black Posthuman Transformer”
Loyola Marymount University, CA, (USA)
2. Dr. Aleksandra Lukaszewicz Alcaraz
Talk: "Towards Cyborgian Personhood and Ethics"
Academy of Art in Szczecin (Poland)
3. Dinorah Delfin
Talk: "A Transhuman Vision: A Model For Conscious Evolution”
US Transhumanist Party (USA)
4. Tina Feng
Talk: “Posthuman Food: Technology and Ecology of Food Production”
NYU-LS (USA)
5. Prof. Federico Vercellone
Talk: "A Posthuman Approach to the Re-Enchantment of the World"
University of Turin (Italy)
6. Jessica Lombard
Workshop: "The Fragmented Body: from Traditional Dualism to Technoscientific hybridization"
University of Eastern Piedmont, North-Western Italy Philosophy Consortium (Italy)
Full abstracts and bios available in the second section of this email.
Here all the details to attend our NY Posthuman Fall 2019 Summit:
When
Saturday, November 16th, 4.00-7.00 pm.
Where
Please, note that this Summit we are in a different NYU building than last Summit:
New York University, Silver Center for Arts and Science.
Address: 31 Washington Pl, New York, NY 10003.Room: 401
RSVP
Entrance is free, registration is required.
To register, please RSVP by Thursday, November 14th, 11.59 pm.
This NY Posthuman Fall Summit we are also celebrating the 10th Anniversary of NYU-Global Studies: our most sincere gratitude goes to NYU for all the kind, generous and precious support offered to our Group!
INFO
For more info: http://www.posthumans.org
Ps. Please, note that these events usually get fully booked, so if you are planning to attend, make sure to RSVP as soon as possible.
1. NY Posthuman Winter Summit 2019
(Program and RSVP)
We are truly excited to present our next speakers, who are coming from different states and countries to bring their visions on the posthuman turn. This is our highly promising outline:
Invited Speakers
1. Prof. Philip Butler
Talk: "The Black Posthuman Transformer”
Loyola Marymount University, CA, (USA)
2. Dr. Aleksandra Lukaszewicz Alcaraz
Talk: "Towards Cyborgian Personhood and Ethics"
Academy of Art in Szczecin (Poland)
3. Dinorah Delfin
Talk: "A Transhuman Vision: A Model For Conscious Evolution”
US Transhumanist Party (USA)
4. Tina Feng
Talk: “Posthuman Food: Technology and Ecology of Food Production”
NYU-LS (USA)
5. Prof. Federico Vercellone
Talk: "A Posthuman Approach to the Re-Enchantment of the World"
University of Turin (Italy)
6. Jessica Lombard
Workshop: "The Fragmented Body: from Traditional Dualism to Technoscientific hybridization"
University of Eastern Piedmont, North-Western Italy Philosophy Consortium (Italy)
Full abstracts and bios available in the second section of this email.
Here all the details to attend our NY Posthuman Fall 2019 Summit:
When
Saturday, November 16th, 4.00-7.00 pm.
Where
Please, note that this Summit we are in a different NYU building than last Summit:
New York University, Silver Center for Arts and Science.
Address: 31 Washington Pl, New York, NY 10003.Room: 401
RSVP
Entrance is free, registration is required.
To register, please RSVP by Thursday, November 14th, 11.59 pm.
This NY Posthuman Fall Summit we are also celebrating the 10th Anniversary of NYU-Global Studies: our most sincere gratitude goes to NYU for all the kind, generous and precious support offered to our Group!
INFO
For more info: http://www.posthumans.org
2. ABSTRACTS AND BIOS
Abstract 1
Talk: "The Black Posthuman Transformer"
This talk introduces the Black posthuman transformer. As a futuristic entity, it is a gender shifting complex autopoietic system of infinitely augmentable capability. In contrast to the cyborg’s physical and existential compartmentalizations, it is the complete merger of the human animal with nature (as machine) at the cellular level, and so gives vitality to: the technology it embodies; the animality in which it is immersed; and the self-determination necessary for its present temporality. The Black posthuman transformer optimally embodies the energy of what I argue is the complexity of complexities, committing its life towards the freedom its existence requires.
Bios: Philip Butler
Philip Butler, is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Theological Studies Department at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. His work primarily focuses on the intersection of neuroscience, technology, spirituality and race. He is the author of “Making Enhancement Equitable: A Racial Analysis of the Term ‘Human Animal’ and the Inclusion of Black Bodies in Human Enhancement.” And he recently completed his first book project entitled Black Transhuman Liberation Theology: Spirituality and Technology.
Abstract 2
Talk: "Towards Cyborgean Personhood and Ethics"
Critical posthumanism deconstructs humanism and rethinks the place of the human in the environmental net of reciprocal relations; it this redefines ontology of contemporary natural-technical world. Perceiving the world from the point of view of deep ecology offers profound insights. However, if one rests with the idea of distributed agency of assemblages, which are rather actants then agents, it is possible neither to call for the care for the environment, nor for other species, because "We" are not responsible, being a part of the bigger whole. Interesting perspective in this respect comes from Katherine Hayles, who proposes non-human responsible agents that are assemblages, as governments or corporations. In my talk, I wish to rethink the idea of responsible individual agents, such as: human persons, cyborg persons and androids. Different kinds of persons may be recognized as contingently responsible for their deeds and possessing different types of ethics, thus we shall draw clear lines between, for instance: humans, cyborgs and AI.
Bio: Aleksandra Łukaszewicz Alcaraz
Aleksandra Łukaszewicz Alcaraz is Doctor in Philosophy, specialized in the fields of philosophical aesthetics and theory of culture and art. She presents an interdisciplinary approach, combining elements of aesthetic and social reflection. She received various prizes and grants, among others: research grants from European Commission within the framework: MSCA-RISE H2020 (TICASS: Technologies of Imaging in Communication, Art and Social Sciences, 2017-2021; TPAAE: Transcultural Perspectives in Art and Art Education, 2020-2024), and a fellowship from the Kosciuszko Foundation in 2016 where she started her book project on the theory of cyborg persons explained in terms of the metaphysics of culture (printed as habilitation thesis: Cyborg Persons or Selves at Academy of Art in Szczecin, Poland 2019).
Abstract 3
Talk: "A Transhuman Vision: A Model For Conscious Evolution”
Imagine what the world would be like if humans were to agree on the nature of reality; if we were to achieve profound self-knowledge and self-mastery; if everyone had access to unlimited resources? Why is it important to envision and talk about these scenarios in the first place? Just like dystopian futuristic movies warn us about situations we wish to prevent, stories also shape our consciousness and our future. Thinking about these questions allow one to exercise critical thinking, but most importantly, it conditions our consciousness to manifest more desirable futures. Challenging preconceived notions of what it means to be human has never been more crucial to envision sustainable and holistic narratives in which humans not only live in harmony with one another and natural systems, but also enjoy a long, healthy purposeful life.
Bio: Dinorah Delfin
Dinorah Delfin is a New York based Multi-Media Artist, a Writer and an Activist advocating for the safe and ethical use of advanced technologies and the improvement of human condition. She is affiliated with US Transhumanist Party (USA). Her upcoming book, "A Radical New Beginning” (2020), challenges notions of what it means to be human in light of rapid biological and digital evolution. Dinorah is the founder of ArtDimensional Studios, a platform for the multidimensional expression of transformative arts. She is also the founder of “The Immortalists Club”, a facebook group for philosophical discussions of existential matters.
Abstract 4:
Talk: "Posthuman Food: Technology and Ecology of Food Production”
The anthropocentric views towards non-human beings regarding food result from the belief in a problematic notion of the food chain as well as the objectification, commodification, and privatization of life forms. The development of plant-based and cultured meat using biotechnology and the practice of agro-ecology with technological assistance can be potential solutions to the speciesist and anthropocentric problems in food production, which help lead to a non-discriminatory and post-human future. Through the examination of benefits and constraints of each solution as well as the discrepancy between them, I will discuss possible developments of food production in the posthuman future.
Bio: Tina Feng
Shuting (Tina) Feng is a Junior at New York University pursuing a degree in Economics with minors in Data Science and Public Policy & Management. As an advocate, she has been actively involved in activisms related to animal welfare, sustainability, and food system in both the U.S. and China. And as an ethical foodie, she cares about the relationship between food and humans, and anticipates an equitable and post-anthropocentric food system via a posthuman lens using technology as a mode of revealing through which it mediates various dualism.
Abstract 5
Talk: "A Posthuman Approach to the Re-Enchantment of the World"
Political theology has recently returned to the spotlight of philosophical reflection thanks to contribution of Italian thinkers, in particular Giorgio Agamben, Massimo Cacciari and Roberto Esposito. The current "aesthetization" of politics is closely connected to posthuman trends. In this talk, I will address the discussion on the re-enchantment of the world through a posthuman political approach.
Bio: Federico Vercellone
Federico Vercellone is Full Professor of Aesthetics in Turin. He is the President of CIM, the Academic Research Center on Morphology "Francesco Moiso" (Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca sulla Morfologia). His early works are, among others: "Il futuro dell'immagine" (2017) and "Simboli della fine" (2018) both published by Il Mulino.
Abstract 6
Workshop: "The fragmented body: from traditional dualism to technoscientific hybridization"
While it is traditionally established that tools and artefacts enable the human to externalize their abilities (Leroi-Gourhan, Mauss), new technologies begin to question the allegedly fixed form of our Anthropos body (genome editing, prosthesis…). This workshop will therefore be based both on phenomenology and the philosophy of technology, in order to examine the tension between technologies and corporeity in a post-dualistic way (Merleau-Ponty, Clark); and to argue that embodiment is essential but also negotiable (Koene, Miah). Our approach may help bringing together one’s social and political rights on his body and the ecology of the mind-brain-body system.
Bio: Jessica Lombard
Jessica Lombard is a PhD Candidate at the University of Eastern Piedmont, North-Western Italy Philosophy Consortium. She holds a Second degree of Philosophy from the Ecole Normale Supérieure d’Ulm, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France. The title of her thesis is: “Transhumanism and Phenomenology. A Continuist Evolutionism from Human to Transhuman.” She was a Lieutenant in the French Land Forces. She attended the Special Military School of Saint-Cyr: diploma of commissioned officer as platoon chief; second degree in Human and Social Sciences.
3. (OPTIONAL) ETHICAL DINNER
Please, note that dinner is not covered by the Conference and is on your budget.
RSVP: If you would like to come to the dinner, please, fill this form by Thursday, November 14th, 11.59 pm.
Please, note that this is a separate form from the one for the Summit.
Location:
Go Zen (Vegan Restaurant)
144 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10012
Time: 7:30 pm
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This is an extraordinary opportunity to meet and connect with the NY posthuman community. In fact, this will be the only seasonal event for this academic year, since in the Spring we will be hosting our 4th Posthuman Global Symposium (April 30-May 2nd), more details here:
http://www.posthumans.org/conference-series.html
We are looking forward to meeting you on November 16th; in the meantime, we wish you all a serene and vibrant Fall 2019.
Visions and Appreciation,
The Organizers of the NY Posthuman Research Group:
Francesca Ferrando, Kevin LaGrandeur, Farzad Mahootian, Jim McBride, Yunus Tuncel
