MARINA LEVINA, “BODY DISRUPTIONS: BIOHACKING AND THE POLITICS OF MEMORY”

A lot of theoretical and applied discussion of biohacking has focused on either making an argument for its revolutionary potential to democratize access to biotechnologies or warn of the possible destructive and dangerous potential of the practice. This talk aims to move the conversation beyond these two binaries. Instead of making an argument about whether biohacking is “good” or “bad” for society, I want to look at how the practice discursively and affectively constructs bodies, communities, and politics. I argue that biohacking aims to disrupt bodily memory – or those affects and practices which help us understand the body as an always historical and material entity tied to the memories, affects, and traumas of its past. And while it is tempting to embrace this path out of history, it is also important to consider what is at stake in the attempt to hack the body forward in time.

Marina Levina (Assoc. Prof. of Communication, University of Memphis) presents: “Body Disruptions: Biohacking and the Politics of Memory”

Prof. Levina appears as part of our series on “Biohacking,” cosponsored by NC Biotech.

Lunch workshop, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, Cone 111, 11:30-12:45 (note changed start time from last year!).

Free and open to the public – but please RSVP Here by Feb. 25 so we can order food!

For a series flyer, click here.