A conversation with The Revd Associate Professor Glen O’Brien from Eva Burrows College at the University of Divinity, Melbourne VIC Australia, on his recent initiatives.
Glen and his colleague, The Revd Dr Arseny Ermakov, designed and are in the process of delivering a suite of three course units in futurism. These are, namely, Futurism and Theology; Humanity 3.0 Theological Response to Trans-, Post- and Antihumanism; Imagined Futures in Popular Culture. The first unit introduces the specific issues related to current scientific and technological developments, exploring their impact upon different spheres of life and engages with major ethical and theological responses. The second one addresses the challenges posed to the Christian conscience by trends such as transhumanism, antihumanism, and posthumanism, especially when it comes to the understanding of the human person. The third unit explores anticipated futures in popular culture (utopian and dystopian narratives) in order to provide theological responses to developing technologies and their impact on humanity and on human societies.
The conversation focuses on details of this original initiative and some of its implications for theological anthropology, perceiving technological advancement, and working towards the betterment of the world. Here is the video recording:
1 June 2021 © AIOCS
And an ad:
Come and study ‘Imagined Futures in Popular Culture’ at EBC next semester. This unit explores anticipated futures that are found in popular culture with the intention of providing a theological response to developing technologies and their likely impact on humanity and on human societies. Artificial intelligence, human enhancement technology, advanced surveillance techniques, and space exploration, have all given rise to both utopian and dystopian visions of the future. Students will explore science fiction novels, film and television, comic books, and gaming, among other cultural expressions, and reflect theologically on their function in the making of meaning, using interdisciplinary theological reflection. The link is to the undergraduate version of the unit but there is also a 900 level postgrad unit available.
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