Parasitical Logic in Culture and Society
To ponder the parasite, philosophically, socially, aesthetically, and politically, is not only to address pressing existential concerns in the present (how can humans live with each other and with the planet in its entirety?) but is to probe how we come to understand knowledge across what we think of as disciplinary and institutional divides. The question the parasite as subject inspires is not just “Who is exploiting whom?” (although this remains central), but also to what extent have we produced social and cultural forms and institutions that logically reproduce parasitical existence?
Because the book is expensive (Parasites!!) we will give away one copy signed by the contributors in attendance to the person in the audience who asks the best question!
Debarati Biswas teaches in the Department of African American Studies at New York City College of Technology, CUNY, where she also coordinates the Black Visual Cultures Minor.
Joseph Boisvere works on science fiction and environmental narrative, materialism, and posthumanism across literature, TV, film, and video games. He teaches at NYU and Baruch College.
Peter Hitchcock teaches at Baruch College and the Graduate Center. Hitchcock is Associate Director of the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics at the GC.
Justin Rogers-Cooper teaches at LaGuardia Community College and in the Master’s in Liberal Studies program at the CUNY Graduate Center
This event is free and open to the public. It is organized by the English Department of the CUNY Graduate Center and cosponsored by the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics.
