OTH in the news

  • “[I]nteresting guests . . . good cast of invited commentators”

-  Edouard Machery (12/09), commenting on the OTH Forum

Brains: On Philosophy of Mind and Related Matters

  • José Ángel García Landa of University of Zaragoza (Spain), multiple posts in Vanity Fea

Estoy leyendo estos días bastantes cosas del foro ON THE HUMAN, interesantísimo para quienes están interesados en temas de humanidades desde una perspectiva interdisciplinar y “tercera cultura.”

…an excellent post by Ian Hacking on genome reading services offered by companies like 23andMe, receives commentary from Paul Rabinow, Gisli Palsson, Norton Wise and others. There is also a follow-up post by Hacking. Hacking’s post continues some of the arguments he developed in his 2006 Daedalus article, “Genetics, biosocial groups & the future of identity” (available for free download), chiefly the question of “Are the direct-to-consumer online genome services forging a new technology of the self?”

…there is a nice little interchange (at the National Humanities Center’s “On the Human” prjoect) on the role of the new direct to consumer genetic testing companies, principally 23andMe and Knome, instigated by Ian Hacking, and attended to by Paul Rabinow, Gisli Palsson, and others who know you. check it out…

The National Humanities Center has established a website, On the Human, featuring the work “of university professors who teach courses on humans and their relations to animals and machines.” The site currently includes course materials for 3-credit undergraduate course on this general subject, news items, an explanatory video, and an essay by Geoffrey Harpham, “Science and the Theft of Humanity.” The website has a blog, also entitled On the Human; sure to check out the video of a whistling orangutan. More to come.

Given that the National Humanities Center is currently concluding its three-year initiative on “Autonomy, Singularity, and Creativity: The Humanities and the Human,” and have also initiated a new, ongoing forum, “On the Human,” on current controversies in the studies of animals, and machines, the time is propitious for collaborative cross-disciplinary alliance…

Comments on OTH’s predecessor, Autonomy Singularity Creativity

  • Marc Maximov, National Humanities Center hosts “What makes us human?” conference, The Independent, 11/19/08Adults wishing to relive the college experience for less than the cost of grad school can buy CDs of the Great Courses series from The Teaching Company or watch videos of TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talks online. Last week brought the chance to see some of the leading lights of academia live, in person, as the National Humanities Center opened its doors to the public for three stimulating days of lectures, panel discussions and debates on the theme “What makes us human?”The Center sits snugly in a pocket of woods amid the biotech firms and R&D labs of Research Triangle Park. The central structure is a bright, airy, truncated pyramid with enormous glass walls that let in loads of sunlight. Forty scholars at a time cloister here for one-year fellowships; the Center promotes academic cross-fertilization by mixing all the humanities together in one big bucket, so that, for instance, the fellow whose project is The Banjo: A Cultural History can lunch with the author of Bathing Culture in the Ancient Greek World.
  • Bill Benzon, The Sciences and the Humanities, Together At Last?, The Valve, 9/10/08In particular, I recommend the Nussbaum & de Wall (on compassion), and de Wall & Bateson (on empathy) sessions from 2007. De Wall presents fascinating information about animal behavior in both sessions. If you’re interested in interrogating the boundary between humans and animals, these sessions are worth watching.
  • Bora Zivkovic, A kick-ass Conference: Autonomy, Singularity, Creativity, A Blog Around the Clock, 9/14/07The conference theme is about bringing scientists and humanities scholars to talk about ways that science is changing human life. November 8th, 9th, and 10th, the National Humanities Center will host the second ASC conference. And the program features a Who’s Who list…