THE CRITICAL POSTHUMANITIES
This lecture explores the methodological implications of contemporary posthuman scholarship in the Humanities. It defines the posthuman as a convergence phenomenon unfolding at the intersection between post-humanism on the one hand and post-anthropocentrism on the other. The former criticizes the idea of ‘Man’ as the allegedly universal standard-bearer for the human, whereas the latter objects to species hierarchy and human exceptionalism. Their convergence affects both the definition of the subjects of knowledge and the modes of knowledge production of the academic Humanities. Considering the high degrees of inter and even trans-disciplinarity of new research hubs that call themselves: the Environmental and Digital Humanities, the Medical, Neural and Bio-Humanities, and also the Public, Civic and Global Humanities – what methodological adjustments are needed in order to raise to the challenge of such complexity?
Rosi Braidotti: (B.A. Hons. ANU, Canberra 1978; PhD Cum Laude, Université de Paris, Panthéon-Sorbonne, 1981; Fellow Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton,1994; Jean Monnet Fellow, European University Institute (2000-1). Honorary Degrees University of Helsinki, 2007; University of Linkoping, 2013. Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, 2005; Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), 2009; Member of the Academia Europaea (MAE), 2014. Distinguished University Professor and founding Director of the Centre for the Humanities at Utrecht University (2007-2016). Her books include Patterns of Dissonance, Polity Press, 1991; Nomadic Subjects, Columbia University Press, 1994 and 2011a (second ed.);Metamorphoses, Polity Press, 2002; Transpositions, Polity Press, 2006; Nomadic Theory.Columbia University Press, 2011b; The Posthuman, Polity Press, 2013 and Posthuman Knowledge, Polity Press, 2019. In 2016 she co-edited with Paul Gilroy: Conflicting Humanities, Bloomsbury Academic and in 2018 with Maria Hlavajova:The Posthuman Glossary.
Personal website: rosibraidotti.com