Group 1: Amber, Julia, Jen, & Justin
Amber: For my project, I will put the scientifically trained performance artist Stelarc into conversation with Alva Noe. Both Stelarc and Noe believe consciousness is dynamic, action-based and extends beyond the flesh.
Julia: My project is a video exploration of the self via the body, sexuality, digestion and excretions. Drawing on the work of conceptual artists such as Marina Abramovic and Mathias Viegener, I will chart my relationship to my body and my self in a series of about ten video clips. This work contains graphic material designed to assert my power and right to take up space in contemporary patriarchal heteronormative society.
Jen: I’ll be writing about how environment changes the self, particularly through travel (adventure and adversity), to try and answer questions like: how/why does change in environment change the self, particularly in terms of planned travel? How does travel affect one’s experience of time? How/why does one learn from reading about or viewing another person’s travels? Beyond travel, what pushes some people to take on challenging environments?
Justin: Extended mind and the self
Group 2: Liz, Berni, & Mari
Liz: I’ll be writing about an anti-narrative tradition that exists in memoirs by gay men and lesbians, and its possible connection to the historical unavailability of certain literary or cultural narratives (the bildungsroman, the marriage plot, and the retrospective from old age, for example) to gay people.
Berni: My paper is about how our Self dissolves into the identity of fictional characters and what happens to the Self as the characters grow so that in Antjie Krog’s words “at the end of the story we do not want to be the same person as the one who started listening.”
Mari: Narrative Psychology
Group 3: Dag, Yael, Venita, & David
Dag: My research topic pertains to synesthesia – a perceptual window to other realities with the use of sensory mediums such as sound and color/closer investigation through the multidisciplinary perspective.
Yael: My research topic is looking at how commercially sexually exploited children/youth (CSEC) and older sex workers internalize the perceptions of others and to what end it effects their sense of self.
Venita: My project will focus on self perception and Schizophrenia. This will be executed in the form of a literary review of sorts. Some questions I will explore are how does this illness impact self perception and how does the illness stigmatize and or liberate these author’s suffering from the illness.
David: My research paper focus is on social media and self representation, how ‘popularity’ plays a part in personal and commercial use. Are we active due to the number of ‘likes’ or ‘views’ and how does this influence business?
Group 4: Ayanna, Andrew, & Jeff
Ayanna: Addiction and environment
Andrew: In my paper I will be exploring the context of development that creates the self through societal norms with reference to neurbiological systems active during social acceptance/rejection.
Jeff: Consciousness and evolution
