Month: February 2016

“The Stepford Wives” and “Ex Machina” screenings

February 27, 2016 / Kati Henderson / 0 Comments

The last two screenings and discussions in the film series have been scheduled! We’ll look at The Stepford Wives with Rubenstein Curator Rachel Ingold at 7pm on Tuesday, March 1 in the East Duke building and then Ex Machina with Professors Kate Hayles and Jay O’berski at 7pm on Thursday, March 10 at Perkins Library. Read more about the films and general topics for their discussions on the films page, and join the facebook groups (here’s the page for The Stepford Wives and the page for Ex Machina).

Please share with anyone you think might be interested! I hope to see you there.

“Ghost in the Shell” screening & discussion

February 18, 2016 / Kati Henderson / 0 Comments

The next film screening & discussion will feature Ghost in the Shell. It will start at 6pm on Thursday, February 25th at the Graduate Liberal Studies house. You can join the facebook event and read more about it on the films page. I hope to see you there!

“Wall-E” screening & discussion

February 6, 2016 / Kati Henderson / 0 Comments

Please join me this Wednesday (February 10th) at 7pm for the first film screening and discussion! Wall-E will be shown at the Griffith Theater in the Bryan Center. It’s also part of the Kenan Institute for Ethics’s Film Fe(a)st series and will be followed by a discussion with Dirk Philipsen and me. You can read more about the film and discussion topic on the films page.

The Smithsonian’s Look at What it Means to be Human

February 5, 2016 / Kati Henderson / 1 Comment

If you’ve ever been to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, you might remember their “Hall of Human Origins.” I haven’t been there (please let me know what you thought of it if you have!) but fortunately they have a good website to accompany it. As you can probably guess, they look broadly at the evolution and definition of Homo sapiens. The website offers a nice, broad background of the scientific side of defining the human, although it focuses more on biological contrasts than objects, as Ambiguously Human does.

I’m posting about it, though, because I would definitely recommend participating in, or at least browsing through, their public poll on the question “What Does It Mean To Be Human?” The responses, from a huge range of people, raise many of the issues this project is looking at (as well as some that are outside its scope but still fun to think about). Here are a few that cover some of that spectrum:

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