Reproduction

ISHA Spring 2001

Our Spring 2001 seminar was on the theme of Reproduction. Even on the face of it, this is a theme that can be approached from various directions--genetic, legal, mechanical, cultural, technological--and that can be addressed in various locations and periods. From a biological or social point of view, how has reproduction changed in our century? What about the practicalities and/or ethics of cloning: is there such a thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ reproduction? Or, from a different angle, how might reproduction relate to translation: how do principles of cloning and/or difference work there? How does the internet affect reproduction: of works of art, music, literature--or teaching? How do we judge the quality of a reproduction in relation to an original? Is performance--of music or drama--a kind of reproduction? What of copyright or patenting in a world of the internet and/or genetic engineering? How do political systems, or cultures reproduce, and with what effects?

These were among the issues that prospective participants were asked to consider. The result was a highly energetic and productive seminar ranging from art and art history, to movies, to the political and literary discourse of reproduction, to the politics and ideology of communications systems, to the reproduction of memory in images and texts--and much more.

For an article from the UMass Campus Chronicle on the Spring 2001 seminar, click here.

As a followup to ISHA’s first seminar on ‘Reproduction,’ a group has continued to meet, under the title of ‘Beyond Reproduction.’

The following were the participants of the Spring 2001 seminar on Reproduction, with a short description of their projects. Feel free to get in touch with any of them, should you have an interest in their work and/or specific project.

Fellows

Christine Cooper
Department of English

Stephen Harris
Department of English

Susan Jahoda
Department of Art, Architecture and Art History
‘Frictional Contacts and other Stories.’

Laetitia La Follette
Department of Art, Architecture and Art History

Marty Norden
Department of Communication

Mari Castañeda Paredes
Department of Communication
‘The Commercial Reproduction of New Media.’

Nina Scott
Spanish and Portuguese

Patricia Warner
Department of Theater
‘Dressing the 18th Century: Costume for the Movies.’