Lib​eralism & Posthumanism: Can Black Mirror’s San Junipero be our better future? 

Values, Speciation, Cyborgs, Purpose and Language – Join us for an engaging discussion exploring such possibilities at the furthest edge of our imagination

Date:  Wednesday 9 October 2019, 18:00 – 19:30

Location:  University of Greenwich, Stockwell Street LT_0004, London SE10 9BD

Panel includes:

Professor Mark O’Thomas – Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Ghislaine Boddington – Reader, School of Design, Greenwich & Director of body>data>space

Alan Lockey – Associate Director and Head of the RSA Future Work Centre

Satinder P. Gill– Researcher at CMS University of Cambridge and Associate Editor for AI & Society

As human values, cultures and societies move through a period of intense change, we explore possibilities at the furthest edge of our imagination. What will it mean to exist in a post-human society and, as a species used to being all powerful, how will this affect our liberal values? What is the future of self-hood?

Looking into one of the scenarios of future through Humanum ex Machina: Translation in the post-global, posthuman world, Mark O’Thomas researches at the interface between translation, adaptation and dramaturgy. Mark’s presence in this event will help us understand the meaning and interpretation of these terms, allowing us to explore the juxtapositions in the hierarchy of social values.

Our views towards the future have already shifted our definitions of identity. Is it possible for these changes to take place in a way that it is harmonious, with an honest expression of self/ves? Ghislaine Boddington explores highly topical digital issues for our living bodies, including our personal data usage, machine human integrations, transhumanism and cyborg evolutions. Her focus is on the blending of our virtual and physical bodies.

We will also be joined by Alan Lockey, Associate Director and Head of the RSA Future Work Centre, to shed light on the RSA perspective around these themes.  The Centre is looking at the positive and negative impact of new technologies, mass automation of jobs, downward pressure on wages and excessive surveillance in the workplace, to equip policymakers, employers and educators with the insights to prepare today’s workers for tomorrow’s workplace.

Satinder P. Gill works as a researcher at CMS University of Cambridge and she is an Associate Editor for AI & Society: Journal of Knowledge, Culture, and Communication. She is Investigating the processes underlying knowledge transfer and emergence in human interaction. She also focuses on the exploration of the dynamics of technologically-mediated interaction and the ethics and aesthetics of engagement.

Followed by drinks and networking.

Please register at Eventbrite: https://posthuman.eventbrite.co.uk

The first collaboration between University of Greenwich and RSA (Royal Society of Arts).

Contact:

Tel: +44(0)20 8331 8706

Email: FLAS-Events@gre.ac.uk

Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science