Blount Initiative Seminar at UA to Feature Robotic Dog, AIBO

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Blount Undergraduate Initiative invites the public to “Becoming Post-human,” a symposium which blends man and technology, April 28 at 3 p.m. in Tuomey Hall, located on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Capstone Drive on campus.

“This semester, the Blount Seminar has been interrogating the term post-human in an endeavor to define it for ourselves and to theorize the intellectual, ethical, political and aesthetic concerns and prospects posed by the synthesis of biological species and technology,” said Sandra Huss, associate professor of English and director of the creative writing program. “The students have read some contemporary theorists on the subject and examined some novels and films that in one way or another anticipate these issues.”

During the symposium, students will offer a documentary film, original music, fiction and multimedia presentations of their research on designer babies, the Braingate chip – where a team of neuroscientists have successfully implanted a chip into the brain of a quadriplegic man allowing him to control a computer – and other body/machine interfaces, cosmetic surgery, the politics of the post-human, virtual reality and eternal life.

There will also be an opportunity for guests to interact with the Sony AIBO dog, a cute form of artificial intelligence. According to Huss, people with curiosity about the subject will be further provoked by the students’ findings, and the event is sure to be enlightening. Refreshments will be served following the event.

The Blount Undergraduate Initiative was established with a $14 million private endowment provided by 27 Alabamians including the late Winton Blount of Montgomery, his wife Carolyn Blount and the Blount Foundation. It is a special four-year program designed to give students the best of a small liberal arts college experience as well as the advantages of a comprehensive public university.

Interdisciplinary seminars in the program are intended to broaden students’ perspectives on the world and help them develop superior critical thinking skills. The program includes a residential freshmen year, a study abroad option, a public service component, and a senior Capstone Course in which students are asked to prepare a thesis on their personal world view.

For more information about the Blount Initiative please visit www.as.ua.edu/blount or call 205/348-1706.