This block seminar explores multispecies relations as a way of rethinking how we understand the world.

Rather than treating “nature” and “society” as separate domains, we will examine how humans, animals, plants, infrastructures, and technologies are entangled in shared worlds. Drawing primarily on the work of Donna Haraway and Anna Tsing, we will explore concepts such as making kin, contamination, feral ecologies, and the more-than-human Anthropocene.

This course is reading-intensive and discussion-based. It combines close collective reading with observation exercises, artistic encounters, and speculative thinking practices. Inspired by approaches such as developing an “ecology of seeing,” we will practice slowing down, noticing carefully, and reflecting on how our perceptions shape what we consider real, natural, or human.

The aim is not simply to study multispecies relations as a topic.
The aim is to experiment with thinking otherwise.

Throughout the seminar, students will be invited to question human-centered assumptions and to explore alternative ways of understanding coexistence, responsibility, and world-making. The final outcome will be a conceptual or creative project that reflects on how multispecies thinking can shift how we see and inhabit the world.

1. Multimedia Reading Reflection & Artifact

Individual Assignment
Submission deadline: Mid May

Instead of a traditional written summary, you will create a multimedia reading reflection that shows how the course literature has inspired you to think and create differently.

Your reflection must:

• Be grounded in at least three core texts from the course (Haraway, Tsing, Feral Atlas).

• Clearly demonstrate how the literature guided, challenged, or resonated with you.

• Include a written component (minimum 500  words).

• Include a creative component.

Format options (choose one or combine):

• Written + audio recording

• Video essay

• Visual artwork (painting, drawing, collage)

• Mapping project

• Sound piece

• Short performative script

• Multispecies documentation

• Other experimental format (by agreement)

The textual component is mandatory.
You must explicitly reference the literature and explain:

• Which concepts influenced you

• How your artifact engages with them

• What shifted in your thinking

This is not an illustration of theory.
It is an attempt to think-with theory.

2. Artistic Project Proposal

Individual or Group (max 3 students) Assignment
Submission deadline: Mid May

Design an artistic or speculative project that takes multispecies thinking into a concrete form.

Develop a 1–2 page proposal for one of the following:

• A speculative artifact

• A multispecies intervention

• A conceptual design

• An artistic experiment

• A research-based experiment

Your proposal must include:

1. Theoretical grounding
   Which texts or concepts inform your project?
   How does it connect to Haraway, Tsing, or Feral Atlas?

2. Chosen medium
   What form will your project take?

3. Proposed site or context
   Where does this project live?
   Urban site? Institutional space? Digital environment? Speculative future?

4. Intended multispecies relation
   Who or what is involved beyond the human?

Learning Objectives

By the end of the seminar, students will be able to:

• Articulate key concepts in multispecies and posthuman theory.

• Engage deeply with Haraway’s and Tsing’s ontological interventions.

• Analyze infrastructures as multispecies assemblages.

• Experiment with speculative and collective thinking practices.

• Develop a multispecies-informed project concept.

Evaluation Criteria

• Depth of theoretical engagement
• Clarity of conceptual argument
• Originality and creativity
• Ability to connect theory and practice
• Participation in seminar discussions