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Ars Synthetica: The Anthropology of the Contemporary will be a one-day series of seminars, explorations, and discussions aiming to bring into focus actual and potential intersections amongst theoretical scholarship and some of the contemporary practical realities posing problems to thought today. The event takes its title from recent work by Berkeley anthropologist Paul Rabinow whose recent work offers collaboratively-styled interventions taking place at the intersection of the most vigorous forms of contemporary critical theory and the most perplexing moments in our contemporary scientific, political, ethical, and cultural practices.
Rabinow's most recent project, Ars Synthetica, provides a web-based forum for engaging specialists and non-specialists in an informed, ethical, and democratic dialogue on emerging sciences. It proposes developing multiple participatory channels for exploring questions about ethics, security, and how cutting-edge research is organized, governed, funded, and expanded. Another recent project is the just-published Designs for an Anthropology of the Contemporary, collaboratively authored by Rabinow, George Marcus, and others.
In our keynote session Rabinow will present his recent work and some of its theoretical implications and practical ramifications. We will pursue these matters further in two cross-disciplinary panels on contemporary biosciences and contemporary computer networking technologies and practices.
The intention of this event is not to provide absolute or final answers, but to enable a diverse range of participant responses, perspectives, and concerns. We will explore possibilities for educating and critically engaging various publics about the challenges and opportunities of bringing new entities, practices, and relations into the world.
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