Shaping Humans: A Discussion Series on Technology, Disability, and Human Flourishing

FAIN: GW-264504-19

Hastings Center (Garrison, NY 10524-4125)
Erik F. Parens (Project Director: August 2018 to present)

Implementation of six public discussions on disability and technology at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

We will create a series of 6 public conversations, Shaping Humans: On Technology, Disability, and Human Flourishing. With the term flourishing we refer to the experience of humans engaging in activities they find meaningful. Technologies, from wheelchairs to prenatal genetic testing, can impact flourishing in profound ways. Yet, because technologies are so deeply woven into our lives, it is difficult to gain the distance needed to reflect on the difference between when they do and don’t promote flourishing. Our series, drawing directly on work by scholars spanning the humanities, seeks to create this critical distance. A distinctive feature of our series is our focus on the experience of people with disabilities. By exploring the complex and sometimes ambivalent ways that people with disabilities resist and embrace technologies in their attempts to flourish, we will shed light on the complex and sometimes ambivalent ways that all human beings encounter technologies.

Associated Products

Public Events Series: The Art of Flourishing: Conversations on Disability (Web Resource)
Title: Public Events Series: The Art of Flourishing: Conversations on Disability
Author: Erik Parens
Author: Joel Michael Reynolds
Author: Liz Bowen
Author: Rosemarie Garland-Thomson
Abstract: The primary product is the creation of the website, which includes videos of all of our events, short descriptions of event themes, speaker bios, and resources for those who want to dig deeper into the topics that arise in the conversations. The videos are available on-demand to anyone who wishes to use them as teaching or learning tools. They include ASL interpretation and live captioning.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://www.thehastingscenter.org/the-art-of-flourishing-events-series/
Primary URL Description: The Art of Flourishing: Conversations on Disability convenes a series of six public events

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