• NEW ACADEMIC COMMITTEE MEMBERS: We are delighted to announce that C. Bayo Akomolafe (Ph.D. in Psychology) has joined the Academic Committee of our Network, and that Peggy Karpouzou, Assistant Professor in Theory of Literature (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece), has joined the board as an Affiliate.
• NEW RESEARCH ASSISTANT: We are delighted to welcome Nikoleta Zampaki (PhD Candidate - National and Kapodistrian (University of Athens, Greece) as the new Research Assistant of the GPN. She will support the Network as the Editor of our Facebook Page.
• NEW INTERN: We are delighted to welcome Poet, a collaborative artist and advocate for Counterculture and Pan/Post Humanism. In the next few months, Poet will support the GPN Newsletter Editor.
• REMINDER: A WAY FOR PROMOTING YOUR EVENTS / CFPs / NEWS: We have create an online form that you can use for promoting your events through the Newsletter of the Global Posthuman Network, which currently counts with around 1000 international members. There is no fee to submit. All submissions will be reviewed and, if found in tune with the posthuman turn, will be published in our next Newsletter. Please, keep in mind that the Newsletter is bimonthly, so if you send an event that expires by the time we send the Newsletter, we will not be able to publish it. Thanks for your interest.

This event is organised by Prof. Barbara Henry and Dr. Claudio Celis (DIRPOLIS Institute).

Institute of Social and Political Research – ICSP – of West University, Timisoara, is honored to host and invite all people interested to a round table entitled LIVING THE POSTHUMAN PARADIGM-SHIFT? A SYMPOSIUM ON SORGNER’S “ON TRANSHUMANISM”

27 May 10.45am-5.45pm CET

Host: Prof. Dr. Florin Lobont, Institute for Social and Political Research, West University of Timisoara

When?: 27 May 2021, 10.45am-5.45pm CET on the (with a one hour break from 2 to 3pm CET)

Where?: The event will be live-streamed on the Metahumanities-Youtube-channel.

The German edition of Sorgner’s book “On Transhumanism” came out in 2016 with the publishing house Herder. It triggered an intense debate on philosophical issues of transhumanism in German academic circles. The book was praised by some world-leading thinkers. Steve Fuller from the University of Warwick stressed that  ​»Stefan Lorenz Sorgner has the makings of becoming Peter Sloterdijk’s evolutionary successor.« Wolfgang Welsch from the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena highlights that »Stefan Lorenz Sorgner counts as one of the worldwide leading experts on trans- and posthumanism. As a consequence of the impact of Sorgner’s weak Nietzschean transhumanism, Penn State University Press translated the Herder monograph into English. It was published at the end of 2020, is entitled “On Transhumanism”, and can serve as an ideal primer to the field of transhumanism. The translator of the book Prof. Spencer Hawkins has added a useful, and informative introduction to the English translation of the book.

Introduction to Cybersemiotics: A Transdisciplinary Perspective traces the origins and evolution of cybersemiotics, beginning with the integration of semiotics into the theoretical framework of cybernetics and information theory. The book opens with chapters that situate the roots of cybersemiotics in Peircean semiotics, describe the advent of the Information Age and cybernetics, and lay out the proposition that notions of system, communication, self-reference, information, meaning, form, autopoiesis, and self-control are of equal topical interest to semiotics and systems theory.

Subsequent chapters introduce a cybersemiotic viewpoint on the capacity of arts and other practices for knowing. This suggests pathways for developing Practice as Research and practice-led research, and prompts the reader to view this new configuration in cybersemiotic terms. Other contributors discuss cultural and perceptual shifts that lead to interaction with hybrid environments such as Alexa. The relationship of storytelling and cybersemiotics is covered at chapter length, and another chapter describes an individual-collectivity dialectics, in which the latter (Commind) constrains the former (interactants), but the former fuels the latter.

The concluding chapter begins with the observation that digital technologies have infiltrated every corner of the metropolis - homes, workplaces, and places of leisure - to the extent that cities and bodies have transformed into interconnected interfaces. The book challenges the reader to participate in a broader discussion of the potential, limitations, alternatives, and criticisms of cybersemiotics.

Navigating the Postqualitative, New Materialist and Critical Posthumanist Terrain Across Disciplines is an accessible introductory guide to theories, paradigm shifts and key concepts in postqualitative, new materialist and critical posthumanist research.

Supported by its own website, this first book in a larger series is an essential companion to the primary texts and original sources of the theorists discussed in this and other books in the series. Disrupting the theory/practice divide, the book offers a postqualitative reimagining of traditional research processes. In doing so, it guides readers through the contestation of binaries, innovative concepts, and the practical provocations that make up the postqualitative terrain. It orients the researcher in the ontological re-turn also by considering Indigenous knowledges, African, Eastern and young children’s philosophies. The style itself is postqualitative through diffractive engagements by the authors and the website includes some examples of the practical provocations described in the book that give an imaginary of how postqualitative research can be taught and enacted. 

This book is an essential resource for novice as well as experienced researchers working both within and across disciplines in higher education.

More information and pocasts for this book can be found at 

https://postqualitativeresearch.com/series-overview/navigating-the-postqualitative-new-materialist-and-critical-posthumanist-terrain-across-disciplines-an-introductory-guide-2/

This book explains that while posthumanism rose in opposition to the biblical contention that ‘Man was created in the image of God’, transhumanism ascertained the complementary view that ‘Man has been assigned dominion over all creatures’, further exploring a path that had been opened up by the Enlightenment’s notion of human perfectibility.

It explains also how posthumanism and transhumanism relate to deconstruction theory, and on a broader level to capitalism, libertarianism, and the fight against human extinction which may involve trespassing the boundary of the skin, achieving individual immortality or dematerialization of the Self and colonisation of distant planets and stars.

While one author contends that there is no Artificial Intelligence as all intelligence is artificial, two other authors debate about truth and reason in today’s world, the notion of personhood and the legacy of the Nietzschean Superhuman in the current varieties of anti-humanism.

The Portal is the brainchild of Tom Cronin and Jacqui Fifer–an ex- financier turned global meditation expert and an international DJ turned director–collaborating to realise Tom’s dream of making the feature film that would inspire people across the world to shift humanity into a new era by meditating daily.

Developed between them over the course of many years, this “experiential” documentary and book are a meeting of minds aimed at redefining the way we approach our inner and outer worlds.

Passionate about reducing stress and chaos in people’s lives, Tom is someone who knows first-hand the power of meditation in overcoming mental health issues, and the potential the ancient practice has for personal healing and human transformation.

Committed to film, story and music as tools to support coherence and evolution, Jacqui loves inspiring people to move from their heads to their hearts, and expand beyond the ‘possible’ to boldly meet evolutionary challenges.

Through their unusual but powerful collaboration, personal stories and ancient spiritual teachings harmonise with the future of technology, collapsing past and future into a portal of ‘now’ where an enlightened planet awaits.

Check out the movie trailer here
 

Check out the virtual exhibition, titled "Posthumanist Itineraries".

This is a project coordinated by Josep Martí and Mara Martínez Morant, Directed by Roc Albalat.

Posthumanism provides a radical critique of humanism and a new way of conceiving the human subject. Traditional humanism is no longer believed to be an appropriate way of viewing human beings, closely linked as they are to everything around them, whether that means other living beings, the environment, or technology. Posthumanism comprises ontology, because it represents a particular way of understanding reality. And it also entails epistemology, because, in line with this specific way of viewing reality, it is also committed to a particular understanding of how knowledge is accessed. And lastly, posthumanism also implies a certain ethical positioning.

Journal of Posthumanism is seeking an Assistant Editor and a Book Review Editor to join our core editorial team. 

Responsibilities of the Assistant Editor include:

- Collaborating closely with the core editorial team on submission assessment and selection of suitable reviewers;

- Using the journal's online platform to manage content;

- Assisting with the copyediting of accepted manuscripts;

- Attending key editorial staff meetings on a regular basis.

Responsibilities of the Book Review Editor include:

- Evaluating book review submissions;

- Organizing book review preparations for publication;

- Identifying books relevant to posthumanists.

Please send an email to posthumanism@tplondon.com indicating your interest in the role, as well as a brief CV.

Reviews will begin 30 May 2021. Applications will be considered until positions are filled.