QUEERING THE 'I' IN INDIVIDUAL

a symposium on posthumanism & symbiosis

organized by Gabe Kahan, Syd White, & Ethan Crain


Hampshire College

April 25-26, 2019

holobiont (noun)

"...an organism plus its persistent communities of symbionts. [...] Recognizing the holobiont as a critical unit of life highlights process and reciprocal interactions, while challenging notions of genomic purity."¹

What can we say of the Self when we consider the human as a holobiont?

We are not merely an after-the-fact composite of "I" and "them," but an eternal blurring of any pronoun-related distinctions. Lynn Margulis's endosymbiosis adds new levels of ambiguity to our sense of Self—a sense of Self that never was and never could have been an "I". There is no doubt, we are assemblages of assemblages.

In culmination with their independent study, Gabe Kahan, Syd White, and Ethan Crain have organized a symposium to explore this topic and its social, political, philosophical, and scientific implications. This event is free and open to the public!

FULL PROGRAM

April 25

FPH ELH, 7-9:30 PM:

Screening of John Feldman's "Symbiotic Earth: How Lynn Margulis Rocked the Boat and Started a Scientific Revolution" (2018)

April 26

ASH 112, 10-11 AM:

"Power, Self, and a Feminist Interpretation of Foucault," a guest presentation from current Div II Claire Saboe

ASH 112, 11 AM-12:30 PM:

"Holobiont: Unity or Multiplicity," a presentation by current Div I Syd White

"The Self as a Specter of Nature: A Symbiotic Ontology for Consciousness," a presentation by current Div II Gabe Kahan

"Predication by Subjectivation," a video screening by current Div II Ethan Crain

ASH 112, 3:30-5 PM:

"Becoming with the Other," a roundtable discussion with Angela Willey, Kiran Asher, and Christian Gundermann


Participants

Angela Willey


Associate Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Five College Faculty

Kiran Asher


Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, UMass Amherst

Christian Gundermann


Associate Professor of Gender Studies, Mount Holyoke College

Gabe Kahan


Gabe is a Div II studying philosophy, natureculture, and the incorporeal.

Syd White


Syd is a Div I who would prefer not to.


Claire Saboe


Claire is a Div II who studies archival history, knowledge production, and political theory.

Ethan Crain


Ethan is a Div II who studies film and video art.