Humanities Arts Cultural Stu 0243 - The Posthuman Condition

Are we becoming "posthuman"? Can we be certain that the versions of humanity that have existed until now will continue to exist in the future, given our ability to control our own evolution and to create intelligent machines? Can we still uphold a boundary between biological organism and cybernetic mechanism? How have posthuman conceptions provided inspiration for black liberation, feminist politics, and gender hacking? We will begin by discussing philosophical and biological conceptions of the human and the boundaries between humans, animals, machines, and other entities. We will go on to explore the ontological and ethical issues presented by versions of the posthuman in theory, film, music, art, and literature. Theoretical readings by Haraway, Preciado, Braidotti, Eshun, Parisi, Weheliye, Darwin, Nietzsche, DeLanda, Thacker, Hayles, and others.

Multiple Cultural Perspectives Writing and Research In this course, students are expected to spend approximately 6 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.