1. Evaluate interpretations of posthumanism and its relation to contemporary technology.
2. Construct a critical account of new materialisms and their connection the way we think of human being.
3. Engage critically in debates relating to the impact of technology on human agency and the relation of humans to one another.
4. Communicate critically and with clarity about problems regarding posthumanism and technology.

Where is the dividing line between human beings and the technology they use? The idea that we simply use technology as a tool will be problematised by looking at the way human faculties are externalised in technological systems, including information networks. Calling on ideas in ‘new materialism,’ the module will examine how human beings are enmeshed with technology as hybrid beings or cyborgs and what this means for the way we understand ourselves, our relations to one another, and processes of regulation or control.

The module will be entirely Distance Learning. It will be delivered primarily via Blackboard, with additional use made of Teams and other platforms where appropriate. The module tutor will provide reading and/or other material for students to address, tutor notes, and usually supplementary guidance in the form of a video or audio file. Students will be expected to read the texts set week by week, watch or listen to any supplementary material, undertake any tasks proposed by the tutor, and engage with the Discussion Board designated for the module. The emphasis will be on understanding key ideas and connecting them with real world problems. In addition to the Discussion Board, students will complete elements of formative assessment, and where appropriate these will contribute to a collective set of student-generated resources for the module (e.g. book reviews, collections of source material, analyses of significant passages of text) in order to encourage a sense of collective learning through research.

Bennett, Jane Vibrant Matter: a political ecology of things. Duke University Press, 2010.

Braidotti, Rosi The Posthuman. Polity Press, 2013.

Colebrook, Claire Death of the Posthuman: Essays on Extinction Vol 1 Open Humanities Press 2014.

‘Who Comes After the Post-human?’ in Stark, Hannah et al (eds) Deleuze and the Non-human Palgrave 2015.

Coole, Diana and Frost, Samantha (eds.) New Materialisms: Ontology, Agency and Politics. Duke University Press, 2010.

Dolphijn, Rick and Van der Tuin, Iris (eds), New Materialisms: Interviews and Cartographies. Open Humanities Press, 2012.

Ferrando, Francesca Philosophical Posthumanism. Bloomsbury Press, 2019.

Haraway, Donna Simians, Cyborgs and Women. Free Association Books, 1991.

Lyotard, Jean-François The Inhuman. Polity Press, 1993.

Srnicek, Nick. ‘New Materialism and Posthumanism: bodies, brains, and complex causality’ in McCarthy, Daniel R. Technology and World Politics. Routledge, 2018.

Serres, Michel Hominescence. Bloomsbury Press, 2019.

Welsch, Wolfgang ‘Postmodernism-Posthumanism-Evolutionary Anthropology’. Journal of Postmodern Studies Vol 1, no.1 (2017) pp.75-86.

Zuboff, Shoshana The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. Profile Books 2019.

Blackboard
Digital Services
Library.

The module will introduce ‘new materialisms’ and their significance for posthumanism. (e.g. Jean-François Lyotard, N Katheine Hayles,Michel Serres, Jane Bennett, Rosi Braidotti). It will use the insights gained there to reflect critically on the relation of human beings to technology. Topics addressed may include: the inter-relation of humans and technology, hybridity, the externalisation of human faculties, and ways of thinking about human agency, networks and power.

Assessment 1. Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4.

The coursework essay is the main summative assessment. Students will have the option of formulating their own essay question to address a problem relevant to or arising from the material covered in the module and will be expected to compose a well researched, evidenced, and coherently argued essay.

Assessment 2. Learning Outcome 4.

The discussion board is a vital part of the learning experience for all students. In addition to requiring students to articulate their understanding of the problems addressed by the module, it provides an opportunity for tutor-student and peer to peer feedback. The criteria against which discussion board contributions will be assessed are: regularity, engagement with others, relevance. Full details are provided in the Module Handbooks and in the Blackboard space for the module.