Thomas Lamarre
Thomas Lamarre
Gordon J. Laing Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the College
University of Chicago
Research Project
Phytological Critique
Project Team:
2023 – 2026
Buzz Buttons (Acmella oleracea). Illustration by Silvia Neretti.
Key Question
Can the study of plant intelligence transform our thinking about human memory, perception, movement, and cognition?
Project Summary
Research on plant intelligence has transformed not only how we understand plants but also how we understand memory, perception, sentience, movement, cognition, and intelligence. This interdisciplinary project will work with key texts, scientific models, and media paradigms that are operative within “plant studies” to reconsider some of the foundational concepts and frameworks for contemporary thinking about the environment and planetary formations.
Research on plant intelligence in recent years has transformed not only how we understand plants but also how we understand memory, perception, sentience, movement, cognition, and intelligence. The absence of familiar physical correlates for plant intelligence has opened a space for speculation on the part of scientists, popular writers, artists, and philosophers. Our research focuses on domains of inquiry that research into plant intelligence has drawn together in unexpected ways: neurosciences, environmental sciences, media studies, and computational sciences. Our research group proposes to build on the links being forged across these domains within plant studies to develop a new conceptual framework suited to the contemporary moment, frequently characterized in terms of environmental disaster, wide-scale species extinction, planetary domestication, climate change, and the Anthropocene. To this end, we are working with key texts, scientific models, and media paradigms that operative within “plant studies” in order to reconsider some of the foundational concepts and frameworks for contemporary thinking about the environment and planetary formations. We have chosen to call our intervention “Phytological Critique,” a rubric chosen for its echoes of “critical inquiry” and “ecological inquiry,” for our project centers on plants not simply as objects or entities to be known but as a kind of intelligence or formation of reason that allows us to grapple with the links arising between previously separated domains of knowledge, which in turn force us to reconsider what critique might do at the current juncture.
Research Team
Stacey Moran
Stacey Moran
Assistant Professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and the Department of English
Arizona State University
Michael Fisch
Zach Yost
Yangqiao Lu
Isabel Kranz
Vicki Kirby
Vicki Kirby
Professor Emerita of Sociology and Anthropology in the School of Social Sciences
University of New South Wales
Christina Jauernik
Christina Jauernik
Independent Architect, Artist, and Scholar
Adam Nocek
Adam Nocek
Associate Professor in the Philosophy of Technology and Science and Technology Studies in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering
Arizona State University
Jun Mizukawa
Project Narrative
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Green Heresies
Conference
Green Heresies
This conference explored recent developments in the study of critical ecology.
The Imperative Pythagoreanism: Big Data and "Brute Force" at the Heart of AI (and "Genomics")
Lecture
The Imperative Pythagoreanism: Big Data and "Brute Force" at the Heart of AI (and "Genomics")
Giuseppe Longo discussed AI, genomics, and the challenge of understanding "what causes what."
Speculative Worldbuilding Amid the Climate Crisis
Discussion
Speculative Worldbuilding Amid the Climate Crisis
At this event, Matt Bell discussed his experiences as an author and critic in the emerging genre of climate fiction.
Speaking with Plants
Discussion
Speaking with Plants
Participants at this virtual conversation discussed plant communication, cognition, and subjectivity with research scientist Monica Gagliano.
Plant Bios
Plant Bios
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Green Heresies
Conference
Green Heresies
This conference explored recent developments in the study of critical ecology.
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
The Imperative Pythagoreanism: Big Data and "Brute Force" at the Heart of AI (and "Genomics")
Lecture
The Imperative Pythagoreanism: Big Data and "Brute Force" at the Heart of AI (and "Genomics")
Giuseppe Longo discussed AI, genomics, and the challenge of understanding "what causes what."
Carousel with 3 slides shown at a time. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate, or the slide dot buttons at the end to jump to slides.
Speculative Worldbuilding Amid the Climate Crisis
Discussion
Speculative Worldbuilding Amid the Climate Crisis
At this event, Matt Bell discussed his experiences as an author and critic in the emerging genre of climate fiction.
Speaking with Plants
Discussion
Speaking with Plants
Participants at this virtual conversation discussed plant communication, cognition, and subjectivity with research scientist Monica Gagliano.
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