Thomas DeFrantz “wonders at the intertwining of African American social dances and political leadership, conceived as the bodies of elected officials.”
Video, podcast, and summary: “The Spooky Science of the Southern Reach — An Evening with Jeff VanderMeer”
Jeff VanderMeer, author of the bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy, joined G. Eric Schaller for a discussion on the ideas that inspired the series.
Podcast: Kevin Driscoll, “Re-Calling The Modem World: The Dial-Up History Of Social Media”
“While prevailing histories of the early internet tend to focus on state-sponsored experiments such as ARPANET, the history of bulletin-board systems reveals the popular origins of computer-mediated social life.”
Podcast: George Yúdice, “Cultural Studies and The Expediency of Culture, Rethought in Relation to Internet Platforms and Megadata”
Culture understood as the “terrain of struggle for interpretive power” needs to take into consideration its relocation and reconfiguration in new media and technologies.
Video, podcast, and summary: “Coming of Age in Dystopia: The Darkness of Young Adult Fiction”
Why are brutal dystopias, devastating apocalyptic visions, and tales of personal trauma such a staple of young adult fiction? Hear from Kristin Cashore, author of the award-winning Graceling Realm trilogy, and the University of Florida’s Kenneth Kidd.
Video, podcast, and summary: “Women in Science”
Computational geneticist Pardis Sabeti and energy studies expert Jessika Trancik discuss careers and the outlook for women in science in the 21st century.
Podcast: Coco Fusco, “Dangerous Moves: Performance and Politics in Cuba”
Coco Fusco is an interdisciplinary artist and writer and a MLK Visiting Scholar at MIT. She is a recipient of a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship.
