Burwood Corporate Centre, Deakin University, Melbourne Friday 7th November

Researchers across a number of disciplines have noted that the internet, and especially the increasing ubiquity of social media, is changing the ways in which the dead figure in the lives of the living. New means of commemorating, remembering, forgetting, interacting with and even denigrating the dead have emerged in online contexts, from online memorial sites, to new conventions of public mourning, to Facebook users continuing to post on the walls of deceased friends, to speculative new technologies that will create interactive avatars of the dead. Such practices raise important questions about the ontological, ethical, and social standing of the electronically-mediated dead and the digital ‘remains’ in which they are instantiated.

This workshop aims to bring together researchers working on this topic from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, including philosophy, media studies, cultural studies and sociology. A small number of speaking slots are available. Prospective speakers are asked to email a short (<300 word) summary to [email protected] by Friday 5th September.

If you would like to attend this workshop please email Neil Henderson ([email protected]); attendance is free but registration is required for catering purposes.

This event is being held as part of “Online Interactions With The Dead,” a one-year research project funded by Deakin University. The workshop is hosted by the European Philosophy and the History of Ideas group.