There are strong indications that a significant transformation is underway in the so-called âHuman Sciencesâ (Geisteswissenschaften, sciences humaines, Humanities). After a period of intense crisis and uncertainty, in which the Human Sciences have frequently sought to mirror or approach the Natural and Physical Sciences, the first decades of the twenty-first century have seen a broad renewal of disciplines, approaches and methodologies. By questioning its traditional foundations, the Human Sciences are reinventing themselves through a broad reconfiguration of its borders and even of the notion of the âhumanâ that has served as its cornerstone. One of the areas where the wealth of this new scenario is most clearly displayed is that of media studies. Spurred by the impact of new digital technologies, media studies cleverly learned to appropriate the epistemological principles and major theoretical issues that have come to characterize the contemporary cultural scene. The objective of the Seminar "The Secret Life of Objects: Media Ecologies" is to sketch a systematization of this scenario from a transdisciplinary perspective, but with a decisive focus on media theory, aesthetics, and cultural studies. The main topic structuring the Seminar represents an emerging field that cuts across different disciplines in the Humanities, from Sociology to Philosophy, but acquires special meaning in the context of new media studies. The underlying assumption is that we need to radically rethink the notion of epistemic agency in a context where the action and impact of objects, media and technological materialities have become increasingly important. In this context, it is incumbent upon us to explore new (and possibly less harmful) forms of relationship between human agents, nature, and technology. Thus, it is not only necessary to investigate the place of human actors in a world enriched by the life of polymorphic objects, but also to highlight the issues that the strong humanities tradition of hermeneutics has often obscured. What new models of historical research of techniques and culture are emerging within the current epistemological paradigms? In what ways is the material dimension of experience combined with the intangible dimensions of culture? In what sense does the category of the human reconfigure itself in light of our new relations with objects and nonhuman entities? How important is the legacy of the genealogy and archeology of knowledge (Nietzsche, Foucault) to a perspectivization of the impacts of "new" digital culture? Most importantly, by focusing on the idea of âmedia ecologiesâ, we also hope to tackle issues that have become pressing in the last years, such as ecological and climatological disaster (including the disposability of the toxic materials used in our electronic gadgets), the ongoing integration between media devices and urban spaces, the development of new research techniques devoted to the analysis of our media environments and the complex new forms of interrelation between culture and nature. By means of interdisciplinary panels, in which philosophers, anthropologists, artists and scientists will discuss with experts in media studies, we intend to address these issues in order to elaborate a preliminary cartography of an epistemological territory still in its early stages of exploration. Â
Â