In the celebrated ‘The Henry Myers Lecture,’ Bruno Latour critiques, what Elizabeth de Freites and Sarah E. Truman succinctly describe in their paper ‘Science fiction and science dis/trust: Thinking with Bruno Latour’s Gaia and Liu Cixin’s ‘The Three-body Problem’’ (published in Rhizomes Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge) as “shifting the focus from ‘trusting that a particular scientific claim is true’ towards an engagement with Gaia (earth) where scientists encounter and form alliances with agencies alive with trickster motive” (Latour, B., 2018. Down to Earth. Oxford: Polity Press).

In times when the Anthropocene is under a scathing scanner for its excesses and lack of sustainability, there is an increasing concentration on the state of the post-Anthropocene, where critical, theoretical, and methodological reworkings have become compulsive to grasp the multivalent agentic capacities of the non-human, more-than-human and ‘other others’ from interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives.

In literature, the social sciences, critical theory, (post-)humanities, and live sciences, there is an ever-growing realisation that not only has the human world been exclusively overprioritized, but also that anthropogenic biases need revision and anthropocentric belief-systems and actions need to be countered and critiqued. This conference seeks to prioritise and critique the “non-human actors” (animals/artificial intelligence/bacteria/smart technologies/natural resources etc.) and configure how such multiple others are coexisting in the era of climate crisis, ecological collapse, geopolitical crises, and what is popularly known as the Internet of Things.

Potential papers may address the following sub-topics, but by no means, are limited to them alone:

• Defining the Non-human Personhood
• Agentic capacities of the non-human
• Non-human nature/Ethology
• Non-human resources
• Primates and Prosimians in research/dehumanization/safety-testing
• Non-human representation and politics in literature and popular culture
• Non-human communication
• Non-human voices in alternate cultures
• Technological non-humans/humanoids/androids/cyborg identities/AI
• Non-human phenomenology
• Human – non-human “peace talks”
• Non-humans and biotech/cloning/genetic engineering alterities
• Non-human spirits and marginal corporeality
• Non-Human sentience – emotion/pain/compassion/cognition/memory
• Non-human Rights  

Publication: Papers exclusively selected for presentation will be prioritised for publication in the forthcoming ‘Bankura University Journal of Posthumanities’ to be published by Bankura University Press, in rolling open, special and theme-based issues. As solo Editor and Coordinator of the first open-issue publication initiative, Dr. Subhadeep Paul will issue deadline-based notifications to all participants in a WhatsApp group to be created for the same. The selection of any paper will be exclusively monitored by a double-blind peer-review Board and its decision will be final and binding on all incumbents.

P.S. Kindly note that this excludes the papers already selected in previous conferences for prospective publications with leading national and international publication houses.

Periodic notifications will also be sent to all participants, as and when other initiatives with university presses and commercial publishing houses are duly finalised.

Important Dates to be Noted:

1. Last Date for Abstract Submission: 15.09.2023
2. Notification of Selection: 02.09.2023
3. Conference Dates: 23.09.2023 and 24.09.2023 (Saturday and Sunday).
4. Registration: A) Faculty: 1500 INR B) Research Scholar: 1000 INR C) UG and PG Students: 800 INR D) Participants: 700 INR E) International Candidates: 30 USD. [G-Pay Payment Portal: 8902039664].   

Abstracts (200 words), with a plausible title, a relevant bio-note (within 50 words) and 5 select keywords that address and negotiate with ‘The Nonhuman may be sent to theposthumanhub.sp@gmail.com & subhadeeppaul@bankurauniv.ac.in within August 31, 2023. The confirmation of the same will be issued within September 2, 2023 (Midnight).