{"id":38625,"date":"2016-04-20T14:14:50","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T18:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=38625"},"modified":"2016-04-20T14:14:50","modified_gmt":"2016-04-20T18:14:50","slug":"new-brock-university-research-institute-studies-posthumanism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2016\/04\/new-brock-university-research-institute-studies-posthumanism\/","title":{"rendered":"New Brock University research institute studies \u201cposthumanism\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a complicated world. Climate change, genetic engineering, highly sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (AI) and species extinction are some of the thorny issues our current generation is grappling with.<\/p>\n

With these relatively new developments comes a need to re-examine what it means to be human, says Christine Daigle, Professor of Philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to re-conceptualize core notions about our lives and our place in the world: how we relate to animals, plants and other beings and how we are all interconnected,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

To that end, Daigle and colleagues across the University have created Brock\u2019s newest transdisciplinary grouping, the Posthumanism Research Institute<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The question of what it means to be human goes way beyond the philosophical.<\/p>\n

In the face of swift technological change, humans have put themselves on top of a hierarchy in which they \u201cproject themselves as masters of the universe,\u201d says Terrance McDonald, PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Humanities and another Institute co-founder.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome view the world as something that can either enhance or prolong our existence,\u201d he says. \u201cHow can I drill all this oil out of the world and use it to fuel machines? How can I take all this plant material and manipulate it to make the perfect tomato?\u201d<\/p>\n

But without understanding that we\u2019re part of a diverse system of interrelations, this approach is \u201cpotentially destructive and negative,\u201d and that could result in environmental and other damages beyond our imagination, he says.<\/p>\n

McDonald, Daigle, and the other Institute co-founders \u2013 Stefan Dolgert, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and Andrew Pendakis, Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature \u2013 have put out a call for membership.<\/p>\n

The Posthumanism Research Institute has four research areas:<\/p>\n