This round-table will now take place on May 4th, 2022, 16:00 (EST). Please see the poster for how to join the meeting.
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Roundtable on Posthumanism, Cinema, Memory
We are happy to co-host this round-table event with a special guest presentation by Dr. Anna Amza Reading. The event takes place on Monday February 28, 2022, 11:00-14:00 EDT.
What does it mean to approach memory from a critical posthumanist perspective?
Please join us for a roundtable discussion on the intersection of cinema, posthumanism, and memory studies. The topic of memory affords unique opportunities for posthumanist inquiry, including (but not limited to): object-oriented memory; environmental memory; animal memory; Indigenous memory; feminist memory; radical alterity and memory; post-anthropomorphic memory; post-apocalyptic memory; multidirectional memory. Rosi Braidotti revalues memory as one of the “main criteria for posthuman theory,” a positive life-affirming force of imagination. Cary Wolfe maintains that, in a certain sense, memory has always been posthuman: in its cultural and institutional forms it has historically relied on prosthetic supports, technologies like writing, for the recording and storage of information or knowledge. Of these technical supports, writing is the “fundamental historically identifiable form” of the “exteriorization of memory.” This is the de-ontologization characteristic of modern memory whose roots, of course, are considerably older than modernity—a modern memory now supported by digital audiovisual media. In thinking about memory and its relation to cinema, posthumanist theory tends to privilege science fiction film, whether dystopian or otherwise. Yet, close attention to audiovisual style also allows for a critical interrogation of such questions as whether or not a given film text actually represents a given posthumanist concept, properly speaking, or whether the film ultimately perpetuates some form of anthropocentric or neo-humanist understanding of the relations between the human as currently understood and what comes after or falls outside or beyond. It remains to be seen to what degree posthuman memory names a modality of human experience that is as much about the present or future, marshalling these temporalities in the service of a memory that transcends a mere relation to the past—a ‘making present of the past’ (Richard Terdiman)—with the potential to operate at a global scale far beyond discrete social groupings. The ultimate question, perhaps, is whether such a posthuman memory will still wear a human face.
Our four panelists will share their varied approaches to memory studies, posthumanism, and cinema in a discussion that hopes to further illuminate how audiovisual media as “prosthetic support” expresses and engages with memory in a posthumanist context. This will be an online event supported by Zoom to be held Monday February 28, 11:00am-2:00pm ET..
Please see the poster for Zoom webinar registration information. Also available here.
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Deleuze and Cosmology Series // Série Deleuze et la Cosmologie | March 31, 2021
You are cordially invited to the fourth and final presentation/discussion group of the 2021 Deleuze and Cosmology Series. This final installment entitled “Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s Chaosmological Thinking” will be presented by Dr. Alain Beaulieu from the Department of Philosophy at Laurentian University. You are welcome to join us and to invite any and all students or colleagues that you think would be interested.
When: Wednesday March 31, 2021 at 4 p.m. EST
Zoom link: laurentian.zoom.us/j/91808556392
See poster for more information or visit our website @ https://www3.laurentian.ca/deleuzecosmo/
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PRI Roundtable: Posthuman Spirituality | March 8, 2021
The roundtable will be held virtually over Zoom:
https://brocku-ca.zoom.us/j/85018677066
The event will be held on Monday, March 8, 2021 from 4-6pm EST.
Five presenters will discuss some aspect of spirituality, broadly conceived, and how it intersects, or not, with posthumanism, either in theory or practice. Each presenter will speak for approximately 10 minutes. After all the presentations there will be approximately one hour of discussion. These roundtables are largely informal and serve as an opportunity to think and discuss posthuman issues with interested colleagues.
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Catriona Sandilands’ talk on “Invasive Plantimacies? Queering Kinship” on November 12, 2019
You are all invited to attend Dr. Catriona Sandilands’ public talk on “Invasive Plantimacies? Queering Kinship” on Tuesday, November 12, 2019.
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Expressions and Images of the Posthuman Workshop April 2018
With 15 participants and one keynote speaker, the inaugural workshop of the Posthumanism Research Network was a success. Despite the manifestation of hyperobject “global warming” in the form of an historic ice storm, we gathered, discussed, debated, and questioned the posthuman in its various manifestations. Thank you to all participants and stay tuned for information on next year’s workshop which will take place at our partner institution, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Participants and co-organizers of the April 2018 PRN workshop: David H. Fleming, Caitlin Heppner, Olga Cielemecka, Anders Bergstrom, Terrance H. McDonald, Martin Boucher, Lukas Brasiskis, Christine Daigle, William Brown, Mickey Vallee, Russell Kilbourn, Alain Beaulieu, Karen Houle, Anna Mirzayan, Marie-Josée Beaulieu, Nandita Biswas-Mellamphy
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Upcoming workshop: “Expressions and Images of the Posthuman”
We are happy to announce that the first Posthumanism Research Network/Posthumanism Research Institute workshop will take place on April 14-15, 2018, in PL 600F at Brock University. The theme is “Expressions and Images of the Posthuman.” This two-day interdisciplinary workshop will be open to the public.
We are fortunate to have a keynote presentation on “Chthulucinema, or the Cine-Squid from Hell” by William Brown (Roehampton University). More information on the workshop will be posted shortly, including a draft programme.
For any questions, contact Christine Daigle or Terrance McDonald.
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Thinking About Animals conference – March 1-2, 2018
We are happy to co-sponsor the Thinking About Animals conference which takes place March 1-2, 2018 at Brock University. You can find the program here.
