With the COVID-19 crisis forcing us to reflect in a dramatic way on the limits of the human and the implications of the Anthropocene Age, this timely volume addresses these concerns through an exploration of post-humanism as represented in philosophy, politics and aesthetics. Global pandemics bring into sharp focus the bankruptcy of the neoliberal economic paradigm, the future of the arts sector in society, and our dependence upon political forces outside our control. In response to the recent state of emergency, The Posthuman Pandemic highlights the urgent need to rethink our anthropocentrism and develop new political models, aesthetic practices and ways of living. Central to these discussions is the idea of post-humanism, a philosophy that can help us grapple with the crisis, as it takes seriously the unstable ecosystems on which we depend and the precarious nature of our long-cherished notions of agency and sovereignty. Bringing together international philosophers, political theorists and media and art theorists, all of whom engage with the posthuman, this volume explores a range of vital subjects, from the inequality revealed by COVID-19 survival rates to museums' role in spreading human-centric understandings of a world struck by human fragility. Facing up to the realities that the coronavirus outbreak has uncovered, The Posthuman Pandemic combines both breadth and depth of analysis to take on the posthuman challenges confronting us today.

The notion of 'the human' is in need of urgent redefinition. At a time of radical bio-technological developments, and in light of the political and environmental imperatives of our age, the term 'posthuman' provides an alternative. The philosophical landscape which has developed as a response to the crisis of the human, includes several movements, such as: Posthumanism, Transhumanism, Antihumanism and Object Oriented Ontology. This book explains the similarities and differences between these currents and offers a detailed examination of a number of topics that fall under the “posthuman” umbrella, including the anthropocene, artificial intelligence and the deconstruction of the human. Francesca Ferrando affords particular focus to Philosophical Posthumanism, defined as a philosophy of mediation which addresses the meaning of humanity not in separation, but in relation to technology and ecology. The posthuman shift thus emerges in the global call for social change, responsible science and multispecies coexistence.

With the COVID-19 crisis forcing us to reflect in a dramatic way on the limits of the human and the implications of the Anthropocene Age, this timely volume addresses these concerns through an exploration of post-humanism as represented in philosophy, politics and aesthetics. Global pandemics bring into sharp focus the bankruptcy of the neoliberal economic paradigm, the future of the arts sector in society, and our dependence upon political forces outside our control. In response to the recent state of emergency, The Posthuman Pandemic highlights the urgent need to rethink our anthropocentrism and develop new political models, aesthetic practices and ways of living. Central to these discussions is the idea of post-humanism, a philosophy that can help us grapple with the crisis, as it takes seriously the unstable ecosystems on which we depend and the precarious nature of our long-cherished notions of agency and sovereignty. Bringing together international philosophers, political theorists and media and art theorists, all of whom engage with the posthuman, this volume explores a range of vital subjects, from the inequality revealed by COVID-19 survival rates to museums' role in spreading human-centric understandings of a world struck by human fragility. Facing up to the realities that the coronavirus outbreak has uncovered, The Posthuman Pandemic combines both breadth and depth of analysis to take on the posthuman challenges confronting us today.

COVID-19 offers a unique opportunity to transform the K–12 social studies curriculum, but history suggests that changes to the formal curriculum will not come easily or automatically. This book was conceived in the space between the dismantling of our old way of life and the anticipation of what comes next. The authors in this volume—leading voices in social studies education—make the case that COVID-19 has exposed deficiencies in much of the traditional narrative found in textbooks and state curriculum standards, and they offer guidance for how educators can use the pandemic to pursue a more justice-oriented, critical examination of contemporary society. Divided into two sections, this volume first focuses on how elementary and secondary educators might teach about the pandemic, both as a contentious public issue and as a recent historical event. The second section asks teachers to reconsider many long-standing aspects of social studies teaching and learning, from content and instructional approaches to testing. Book Features: Guidance on how to teach about the COVID-19 crisis as a recent, controversial historical event.Examples of teaching approaches and classroom projects that align with the C3 Framework.Lessons about COVID-19 for use in K–12 classrooms, as well as chapters on the history of pandemics and on how teachers can help students cope with death and grief.A critical examination of the idea of American exceptionalism, the role of race and class in U.S. society, and fundamental practices within social studies education. Contributors: Sohyun An, Varenka Servín Arcos, Brooke Blevins, Lisa Brown Buchanan, Yun-Wen Chan, Ya-Fang Cheng, Rebecca C. Christ, Christopher H. Clark, Kristen E. Duncan, Leonel Pérez Expósito, Anna Falkner, David Gerwin, Maggie Guggenheimer; Michael Gurlea, Tracy Hargrove, Jennifer Hauver, Mark E. Helmsing, David Hicks, Karon LeCompte, Kevin R. Magill, Catherine Mas, Sarah A. Mathews, Carly Muetterties, Amber Neal, Katherina A. Payne, Noreen Naseem Rodríguez, Sandra J. Schmidt, Lynn Sikma, Amy Taylor, Stephanie van Hover, Cathryn van Kessel, Bretton A. Varga, Cara Ward, Tyler Woodward, Holly Wright

This handbook showcases extraordinary educational responses in exceptional times. The scholarly text discusses valuable innovations for teaching and learning in times of COVID-19 and beyond. It examines effective teaching models and methods, technology innovations and enhancements, strategies for engagement of learners, unique approaches to teacher education and leadership, and important mental health and counseling models and supports. The unique solutions here implement and adapt effective digital technologies to support learners and teachers in critical times – for example, to name but a few: Florida State University’s Innovation Hub and interdisciplinary project-based approach; remote synchronous delivery (RSD) and blended learning approaches used in Yorkville University’s Bachelor of Interior Design, General Studies, and Business programs; University of California’s strategies for making resources affordable to students; resilient online assessment measures recommended from Qatar University; strategies in teacher education from the University of Toronto/OISE to develop equity in the classroom; simulation use in health care education; gamification strategies; innovations in online second language learning and software for new Canadian immigrants and refugees; effective RSD and online delivery of directing and acting courses by the Toronto Film School, Canada; academic literacy teaching in Colombia; inventive international programs between Japan and Taiwan, Japan and the USA, and Italy and the USA; and, imaginative teaching and assessment methods developed for online Kindergarten – Post-Secondary learners and teachers. Authors share unique global perspectives from a network of educators and researchers from more than thirty locations, schools, and post-secondary institutions worldwide. Educators, administrators, policymakers, and instructional designers will draw insights and guidelines from this text to sustain education during and beyond the COVID-19 era.

The question of what defines the human, and of what is human about the humanities, have been shaken up by the radical critiques of humanism and the displacement of anthropomorphism that have gained currency in recent years, propelled in part by rapid advances in our knowledge of living systems and of their genetic and algorithmic codes coupled with the global expansion of a knowledge-intensive capitalism. In Posthuman Knowledge, Rosi Braidotti takes a closer look at the impact of these developments on three major areas: the constitution of our subjectivity, the general production of knowledge and the practice of the academic humanities. Drawing on feminist, postcolonial and anti-racist theory, she argues that the human was never a neutral category but one always linked to power and privilege. Hence we must move beyond the old dualities in which Man defined himself, beyond the sexualized and racialized others that were excluded from humanity. Posthuman knowledge, as Braidotti understands it, is not so much an alternative form of knowledge as a critical call: a call to build a multi-layered and multi-directional project that displaces anthropocentrism while pursuing the analysis of the discriminatory and violent aspects of human activity and interaction wherever they occur. Situated between the exhilaration of scientific and technological advances on the one hand and the threat of climate change devastation on the other, the posthuman convergence encourages us to think hard and creatively about what we are in the process of becoming.

Since its emergence in early 2020, the COVID-19 crisis has affected every part of the world. Well beyond its health effects, the pandemic has wrought major changes in people’s everyday lives as they confront restrictions imposed by physical distancing and consequences such as loss of work, working or learning from home and reduced contact with family and friends. This edited collection covers a diverse range of experiences, practices and representations across international contexts and cultures (UK, Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand). Together, these contributions offer a rich account of COVID society. They provide snapshots of what life was like for people in a variety of situations and locations living through the first months of the novel coronavirus crisis, including discussion not only of health-related experiences but also the impact on family, work, social life and leisure activities. The socio-material dimensions of quotidian practices are highlighted: death rituals, dating apps, online musical performances, fitness and exercise practices, the role of windows, healthcare work, parenting children learning at home, moving in public space as a blind person and many more diverse topics are explored. In doing so, the authors surface the feelings of strangeness and challenges to norms of practice that were part of many people’s experiences, highlighting the profound affective responses that accompanied the disruption to usual cultural forms of sociality and ritual in the wake of the COVID outbreak and restrictions on movement. The authors show how social relationships and social institutions were suspended, re-invented or transformed while social differences were brought to the fore. At the macro level, the book includes localised and comparative analyses of political, health system and policy responses to the pandemic, and highlights the differences in representations and experiences of very different social groups, including people with disabilities, LGBTQI people, Dutch Muslim parents, healthcare workers in France and Australia, young adults living in northern Italy, performing artists and their audiences, exercisers in Australia and New Zealand, the Latin cultures of Spain and Italy, Asian-Americans and older people in Australia. This volume will appeal to undergraduates and postgraduates in sociology, cultural and media studies, medical humanities, anthropology, political science and cultural geography.