The sky has not fallen – yet. In troubled times, this lecture joins human and more-than-human companion species to ask how to think, really think, without either the apocalyptic violence or salvific comfort of human exceptionalism. Revisiting themes, images, arguments, and collaborations from a lifetime of feminist work and play in science studies, biology, cultural studies, and arts, Haraway asks how to tell evidence-laden, effective stories for earthly flourishing in exterminationist times. Is it still possible to make powerful oddkin in opposition to techbro anti-immigrant pronatalism and extraterrestrial settler nationalism in order to partially heal devastated worlds together? If oddkin hold up the sky, we have a chance.

This event is both in-person and virtual.

Doors will open at 5:00pm with refreshments from 5:00 – 5:30.

The lecture with a Q&A will begin at 5:30pm with a reception to follow.

Donna Haraway is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California Santa Cruz. She writes and speaks in science and technology studies, feminist theory, and multispecies studies. She is an active participant in the Science and Justice Research Center and Center for Cultural Studies. Attending to the intersections of biology with culture and politics, Haraway’s work explores the string figures composed by science fact, science fiction, speculative feminism, speculative fabulation, science and technology studies, and more-than-human worlding. Haraway’s renowned essay, “A Cyborg Manifesto” (1985) is considered a foundational text in multiple scholarly fields. Some of her books include Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene (2016); When Species Meet (2008); The Companion Species Manifesto (2003); Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium (1997, 2nd ed 2018); Simians, Cyborgs, and Women (1991); Primate Visions (1989); and Crystals , Fabrics, and Fields (1976, 2004).

This lecture is presented by the Center for Cultural Studies and made possible by the Helene Moglen Lecture in Feminism and Humanities for the Center for Cultural Studies Endowment, and The Humanities Institute.