Memphis researcher to speak on biohacking and memory

Marina Levina, an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Film at the University of Memphis, will present “Body Disruptions: Biohacking and the Politics of Memory” at 11:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 28, in Cone University Center, Room 111.

Levina’s current research interests are focused on cultural studies of monstrosity; critical rhetoric of science, medicine and technology; critical surveillance studies; and affect theory. Her most recent publications include an edited collection, “Biocitizenship: The Politics of Bodies, Governance and Power.”

According to Levina, a lot of theoretical and applied discussion of biohacking has focused on either making an argument for its revolutionary potential to democratize access to biotechnologies or warn of the possible destructive and dangerous potential of the practice.

In her Feb. 28 talk, Levina will aim to move the conversation beyond these two binaries.

“Instead of making an argument about whether biohacking is ‘good” or “bad’ for society, I want to look at how the practice discursively and affectively constructs bodies, communities and politics,” said Levina. “I argue that biohacking aims to disrupt bodily memory—or those affects and practices which help us understand the body as an always historical and material entity tied to the memories, affects and traumas of its past. And while it is tempting to embrace this path out of history, it is also important to consider what is at stake in the attempt to hack the body forward in time.”

The UNC Charlotte Center for Professional & Applied Ethics is sponsoring this luncheon workshop as part of its series on biohacking; N.C. Biotech is a cosponsor. While this event is free and open to the public, RSVPs are requested by Feb. 25.