Human Futures: A study of Technoscientific Immortality
The research project examines changing conceptions of the human being, mortality and social relations in an increasingly technologically advanced world.
About the research project
Technological innovation in human-computer interfaces, medical breakthroughs in nano- and biotechnology, algorithmic governance, new technologies to intervene in anthropogenic climate change, all seriously challenge established understandings of the human being and its environment.
Mind-blowing questions are now being asked, such as: What is the nature of the future human being? What are the potentials of new genetics or of cloning? Can AI develop human qualities? What happens to social relations when we are primarily living in digital and virtual spaces? What social status do robots, avatars and digital selves acquire?
"Human Futures: A Study of Technoscientific Immortality" explores the impact of advancements in technology on our understanding of the human being and the environment. This research project focuses on death, a key aspect of humanity that may change in the future due to advancements in fields such as human-computer interfaces, medical technology, AI, and virtual reality. Through six ethnographic case studies, the project compares the imaginaries and practices of what may be termed "technoscientific immortality" in Russia and the US.
People
Project manager
Annelin Eriksen Professor, University of Bergen
Anya Bernstein Professor, Harvard University
Project members
Annelin Eriksen Project Manager, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Bergen
Anya Bernstein Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University
Fartein Hauan Nilsen PhD Candidate at the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen
William Dawley Postdoctoral researcher
Advisory Board
Jon Bialecki Continuing lecturer in the UCSD department of anthropology
Abou Farman Assistant Professor of Anthropology at The New School for Social Research
Vadim Gladyshev Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
Jennifer M. Huberman Professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
Leon Peshkin Scientist working at the Systems Biology Department, Harvard Medical School and Marine Biology Lab, University of Chicago
Roger Strand Professor of theory of science at Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen
Contact
Please contact us if you have any further queries about the project and/or future events.
- Phone number
- +47 555 89 270
- Emails
- annelin.eriksen@uib.no
