Critical Posthumanisms

I just discovered the new book series titled ‘Critical Posthumanisms’ published by the Dutch company Rodopi. The forthcoming volumes look very interesting. More information here:

ISSN 1872-0943

General Editors:
Ivan Callus, University of Malta
Stefan Herbrechter, Trinity and All Saints, University of Leeds

Editorial Board:
Neil Badmington, Cardiff University
Timothy Bhati
Manuela Rossini, University of Amsterdam
Joanna Zylinska, University of London

‘Posthumanism’ may be understood as the paradigm that succeeds humanism, but also as the study of what might follow humanity’s ends. After prompting an initial sense of novelty and shock, posthumanism has become a discourse whose unsettling anticipations of the future and timely critiques of the present have firmly established themselves within the academy. Posthumanism’s concerns—typically relating to the impacts of bio- and digital technology on body, mind, culture, and epistemology—are now part of mainstream debate within the humanities and within interdisciplinary explorations of the integrity of the human.

Critical Posthumanisms is a new series focusing on the exciting rise of posthumanism and its probable directions. It makes available studies by scholars whose perspectives on the posthuman vary in important and interesting ways, and should serve as a crucial point of reference for anybody working within the field.

Books within the series provide:

(a) analyses of the histories, idioms, and canons of different “posthumanisms”;
(b) discussion of the main thinkers and trends of posthumanism;
(b) alternative formulations of posthumanism, which downplay the centrality of technology;
(c) philosophical and political critiques of the “prosthesization” of the human;
(d) cross-disciplinary takes on posthumanism, particularly those allowing the humanities to engage with areas like Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Virtual Reality, etc.

Editorial Address:
Dr Ivan Callus
Department of English
Faculty of Arts
University of Malta
Msida MSD06
Malta

Email: ivan.callus@um.edu.mt

Dr Stefan Herbrechter
Department of Media, Film and Culture
Trinity and All Saints
Brownberrie Lane
Horsforth
LEEDS
LS18 5HD
UK

Email : s.herbrechter@leedstrinity.ac.uk

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Forthcoming volumes:

Volume 1. Stefan Herbrechter and Ivan Callus. Critical Posthumanisms: An Introduction.

Volume 2. Gloria Lauri-Lucente. Mutatas Formas: Posthumanism and Transembodiment in Ovid, Dante, and Petrarch.

Volume 3. Thorsten Botz-Bornstein. Virtual Reality: The Last Human Narrative?

The editors are also looking to commission further monographs in the areas described above.

The State of The Real in istanbul

The State of The Real in istanbul, by my friend Damian Sutton

Originally uploaded by andymiah

It’s not every day that you spot a book by a close friend of yours in a bookshop, within a different country. So here I am in this amazing shop in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul and out pops Damian’s excellent book. It was also the first time that I have seen the copy. As one progresses in this world, it becomes clear that it is less likely to receive free copies of books written/edited by close friends. There are obvious reasons for this. Congratulations Damian!!!

Feminist Approaches to Bioethics

FAB Net

Originally uploaded by andymiah

They FABNet gang have a new website and it’s looking pretty stylish. Don’t forget to join the mailing list.

Virtual Anxiety

Kember, S. (1998). Virtual Anxiety: Photography, New Technologies, and Subjectivity. Manchester, Manchester University Press.

“…the raising of the undead in technoscientific discourse signifies not only the validation of difference but the desire to effect new and illicit kinds of connection within and across academic and disciplinary boundaries as well as organic and inorganic realsm. Vampires in this context are about difference, technology and writing linked by the possibilities of ‘as if’. They are a facet of feminist figurative writing in academic discourse which, tied to specific and declared investments, help to keep the monsters out of the closets and divert us from our virtual anxieties.”

London 2012 Olympics Logo

The 2012 logo was launched yesterday. While most of the coverage I have seen seems to be reporting negative opinions, I can’t help but wonder what kind of logo would have inspired other kinds of comments. Having watched the promotional video and read a bit more about the logo, I can see that this will be an interesting logo to study. In comparison, previous Games logos are easily forgotten. My intuition is that this logo will become embraced by the UK, as time goes by, providing it can get over the initial hurdles. In this case, there seems the usual polarisation of the populist versus the attempted avant garde. This includes typical complaints that £400,000 was spent on something a school kid could have designed. Have we no understanding of art and design!?Nevertheless, in the spirit of discussion, I’ve created a group in Flickr for Logo spotting. Join and send us something.

Peter Singer on the Ethics of Global Poverty

Peter Singer

Originally uploaded by andymiah

This week, I was in Oxford briefly at the invitation of Julian Savulescu. It was a real pleasure to hear Peter Singer speak, having known his writings for many years. The trip was briefer than I had anticipated but long enough to hear Singer’s interest to convince governments of their obligation to address global poverty. His argument was, as always, incredibly accessible and will surely appeal to the kinds of intuitions that many people share on this subject.