Liam Rogers
Current Research
Screening Posthumanism: Humanness, Technology and Embodiment in Twenty-First Century Science-Fiction Film and Television
My PhD project explores how constructed concepts of humanness are inscribed onto different embodiments of technological life in onscreen science-fiction. It traces through how theories of voice, hapticity and movement can help us understand advancements in technoscience, such as AI in Her (2013), virtual reality in Black Mirror (2011-present) and robotics CHAPPiE (2015), to investigate the possibility of a screened posthumanism. Through close textual analysis, I showcase how popular, mainstream film and television ought to be thought of as fundamental to the posthumanist project, not because they uncritically reflect pre-established philosophical positions but because they challenge, augment and actively theorise posthumanism in uniquely cinematic and televisual ways.
My project is supervised by Professor Catherine Constable & Dr Tiago de Luca, and is funded by Midlands4Cities (M4C) under the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Background
I attained my BA (Hons) in Film Studies from the University of Warwick in 2018, and an MSc (with Distinction) in Film Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 2020.
My research interests include:
- Film theory and film-philosophy
- Digital cinemas and augmented realities
- Race, technology and Afrofuturisms
- Voice and sound studies
- Queer theory
- Gender, sex and sexuality onscreen
- 'Post-broadcast' television and television-as-philosophy
- Habitability and environmental sustainability onscreen
Publications
Rogers, L. (2017). Anicom Seriality: BoJack Horseman (2014-2020) and the Post-Broadcast Era. Animation Studies 2.0, Animation and Seriality Blog.
Teaching
Science Fiction: Theory as Film (2022-2024)
Theories for Film Studies (2022)
IATL Habitability in the Universe (2023-2024)
Conferences, Talks and Papers
Does the ArchAndroid Dream of Electric Sheep? Janelle Monáe, Posthumanism and the Post-Racial “Other” in “Autofac” (2018). Department of Film and Television Studies Research Day [Digital], The University of Warwick. May 2021.
"I am everywhere:" Disembodied Knowledge and Contradictory Posthumanism in Lucy (2014). BAFTSS New Connections Event: Posthumanism(s) Roundtable [Digital], The University of Warwick. June 2021.
Ich bin dein Mensch/I'm Your Man (2021) and the Perfect Man. Introductory talk followed by screening of Ich bin dein Mensch. The Apocalypse is Now Film Festival, Resonate Festival, The University of Warwick. October 2021.
Co-organised the Posthuman Bodies and Embodied Posthumanisms conference, 12-14th October 2022. For more information, please visit https://posthumanbodiesconference.wordpress.com/.
Screening Holography: Materialised Transparency, Intangible Love and Posthumanism. Sognielettrici - Between Fiction & Society II, IULM University, Milan, October 2023.
Species Cosmopolitanism and Posthuman Solidarity in The Creator (2023). Narrating the Nonhuman conference, The Centre for Human-Animal Studies, Edge Hill University, May 2024 [Upcoming].
Identity Tourism and the Cybersexual Phenomenal Body in Black Mirror's 'Striking Vipers' (2019). Screen Studies in the Age of Extended Reality & Synthetic Media, Trinity College, Dublin, June 2024 [Upcoming].
Contact
CHAPPiE (2015)
Ex Machina (2014)