March 13 Symposium Lecture to Examine Implications of Cyborg Technology

The next lecture in FVCC’s Honor Symposium will examine technological advances that are causing humans to rethink our sensory abilities. Dr. Brian Keeley will discuss “Cyborg Senses: On the Cusp of a New Era in the Philosophy of Perception” on March 13 at the college. Free and open to the public, all Honors Symposium lectures begin at 7 p.m. in the large community room in the Arts and Technology Building.

Dr. Keeley is a philosophy professor at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, where he also teaches in the Science, Technology & Society and Neuroscience programs. He has published more than 40 articles, book chapters and reviews on topics such as the philosophy of neuroscience, the nature of the senses, artificial life and the unusual epistemology of contemporary conspiracy theories.

Dr. Keeley believes that humans are entering a new era of sensory understanding driven by our relatively new-found ability to design and create novel, artificial senses. During his Honors Symposium lecture, he will explore how our perceptions of ourselves and the creatures around us may change as we are able to perceive new features of the world using artificial senses.

The Honors Symposium continues a tradition of bringing thoughtful public discussion regarding current hot-topic issues to the Flathead Valley and is funded in part by Humanities Montana, the Kalispell branch of the American Association of University Women, FVCC Alumni and Friends, and the Theodore Chase Endowment Fund.

The final lecture in this year’s Honors Symposium is scheduled for March 20 and will feature Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Carr, who will talk about “Computers, Automation and the Human Future.”

For more information, visit www.fvcc.edu/honors-symposium or call symposium organizer Dr. Gerda Reeb at (406) 756-3889.