CHEF WG2 Webinar: Future institutions in, with, and for Society 3 – Siân Bayne
Drawing on Siân Bayne’s inspirational and extensive research in higher education futures and digital education, this talk examines the complex relationships between humans and machines through critical, interdisciplinary, and utopian perspectives. It considers the implications of these entanglements and the relevance of cyborg pedagogy for our teaching and research, as well as the future of universities and related institutions, and their roles not only within society but also for and with society.
Info about event
TIME
Thursday 9 October 2025, at 14:30 - 15:30 CEST
Register No later than Thursday 9 October 2025, at 14:00
Zoomlink for the event: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/65101375524
Cyborg theory in education 40 years on
Donna Haraway's 'Cyborg Manifesto', written in 1985, celebrated the political potential - and the possibility of joy - in the breakdown of the boundary between human and machine. Her vision was one which emphasised the power of hybridity, imagination, irony and ‘serious play', and has been influential in education ever since, particularly in the fields of eco-pedagogy and digital education.
However, times have radically changed since Haraway first argued for the liberatory potential of cyborg selfhood. 40 years on - and after AI - we need to ask whether the figure of the cyborg is still a useful one for education. For example, who now has the power to take responsibility for the setting and confusion of human/machine boundaries – is it still the ‘us’ proposed in Haraway’s famous claim that ‘the machine is us’? If we could enjoy the idea of being ‘theorized and fabricated’ machinic/organic hybrids in 1985, do we feel the same in 2025 when our hybridity, while still theorised and fabricated, is also now relentlessly datafied and monetised? Is the concept of cyborg pedagogy still useful for our practice and our research?
This talk will discuss these issues, offer a critical re-reading of the manifesto, and explore how a developed cyborg theory still offers useful ways ahead for our teaching and research. Finally, the talk reflects on what this might imply for future institutions that are in, for and with society.
The CHEF working group on “Future institutions in, with, and for society”explores potentials and scenarios for transforming higher education institutions and engendering engaged, empowered, and co-creative future institutions in, with, and for society, focusing on co-operative, imaginative, and participatory theories, models, and institutional practices. “Future institutions in, with, and for society” explore new institutional and education formats such as quadruple helix innovation ecosystems, living labs, citizen science or research, mode three knowledge creation, speculative and utopian methods, and transformative partnerships.
“Future institutions in, with, and for society ” inquires into future roles, values and practices emerging at the intersection of education, culture and arts institutions, industries, and the public domain. It asks why and to what end new co-operative, collaborative, and co-creative theories, models and practices are needed. And how to rethink, reshape and support higher education institutions that are entangled with natural, cultural, and societal stakeholders and build transformative futures across boundaries together for the public good.
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Short bio:
Siân Bayne is a professor of Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. She is also the director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education and the lead on Higher Education Futures as the university's assistant principal. Her research is critical and interdisciplinary and currently focused on higher education futures, utopia, and theories of ‘enhancement’. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0133-7647
Websites:
University of Edingburgh website: https://edwebprofiles.ed.ac.uk/profile/sian-bayne
Siân Bayne website: https://sianbayne.net
Siân Bayne LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sian-bayne/