Conference "Virtuality - Perspectives of Educational Anthropology"
Annual Conference of the Commission for Educational Anthropology of the German Educational Research Association, September 21-23, 2022
Table of contents
Call for Papers
A closer look at the use of the term 'virtuality' reveals a field of heterogeneous perspectives on the phenomenon it refers to, which can be characterized by an "almost hopeless confusion of the term" (cf. Kasprowicz/Rieger 2020a, p. 10). Particularly in the context of digitalization, a polarization of the debate can be observed since the 1980s and 1990s, in which, on the one hand, the cross-border possibilities of digitalized ('virtual') realities are glorified and, on the other hand, the effects of the loss of human reality in the appearance of ('virtualized') artificial worlds are lamented (cf. Völcker 2010, p. 10ff., 316f.).
The mutually exclusive juxtaposition of reality and virtuality that emerges here is associated with a reduction of the phenomenon of virtuality and, at the same time, a simplification of the description of the human relationship to the world that does not do justice to the complex relationship between virtuality and the living world. Following on from this discourse, the distinction between virtuality and reality can be questioned in the discussion of the significance of virtuality for the human appropriation and shaping of the world, also with reference to the historical semantics of the term in the pre-digital era (cf. Roth 2000; Knebel 2001; Völcker 2010) and with a view to the current far-reaching effects on the lifeworld (cf. Grimshaw 2014; Kasprowicz/Rieger 2020a; Rieger/Schäfer/Tuschling 2021).
The criticism of the reduction of the problem leads to diverse attempts at description, the spectrum of which can be outlined by relating them to various corresponding terms such as possibility, capacity, potentiality, actuality, imagination, simulation, fiction, appearance, digitality, mediality, immersion and others. It will be discussed to what extent virtuality, based on the "design character of human existence" (Rieger 2014, p. 25), can be characterized as a "universal prerequisite of any reference to the world" and to what extent it, as a condition of human perception and appropriation of the world, can open up new perspectives on "everything that takes place in the mode of as if " (Kasprowicz/Rieger 2020a, p. 5f.). In this sense, it should be remembered that the term can be derived from the Latin virtualis, which is associated with the possible, for example as a possible reality or artificial reality; but also from the Latin virtus, which refers to strength, ability, virtue, efficiency.
For educational science, the question of "virtual pedagogy" (Beiler/Sanders 2020) arises, but this cannot be reduced to optimizing the use of digital media in the classroom or learning in digitalized learning environments or 'virtual' realities (cf. ibid., p. 502). Rather, virtuality must be seen as a challenge for pedagogical action in the context of corresponding social transformation processes, which have powerful and violent effects in the backdrop of the virtualization of lifeworlds (cf. Levy 1997; Sprenger 2020, p. 107).
The conference opens up a wide range of thematic possibilities.
In addition to the fundamental reflection on the relationship between humans and virtuality (homo virtualis, digitalis, fictionalis, medialis, utopicus, etc.), the significance of virtuality for the description of pedagogical-anthropological dimensions and processes could be discussed in a first basic theoretical approach. It would be conceivable, for example, to consider education and upbringing, learning, imagery and subjectivation, autonomy, information and knowledge, as well as physicality, vulnerability, violence, mimesis, (social) space, ritual, imagination, myth, art and play - possibly also taking historical semantics into account.
In a second step, it would also be possible to examine virtuality as a condition of human appropriation of the world in various pedagogical fields and to question pedagogical concepts and practices with regard to their pedagogical-anthropological implications in the context of virtuality. In addition to thematizing the media and technological upheavals in the wake of 'computerization', studies on 'virtual spaces' of the pre-digital era are also possible (cf. Adams 2014). This also raises the question of the methodological connections of such studies. The social, epistemological, ethical and technological preconditions and consequences of virtuality (e.g. in relation to visualization, datafication, networking, fake news) should not be neglected in addition to the thematic approaches outlined above.
Please send your presentation proposals with a maximum of 2500 characters (incl. spaces, excl. literature) by April 29, 2022 by e-mail to Prof. Dr. Carsten Heinze (allgemeine.erziehungswissenschaft @tu-dresden.de).
Information about the conference and the program will be sent out in May 2022.
Literature
Adams, P. C. (2014): Communication in Virtual Worlds. In: Grimshaw, M. (ed.): The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality. Oxford et al: Oxford University Press, pp. 239-253.
Beiler, F./Sanders, O. (2020): Virtual pedagogy. In: Kasprowicz, D. / Rieger S. (eds.): Handbook of Virtuality. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 501-519.
Grimshaw, M. (ed.) (2014): The Oxford Handbook of Virtuality. Oxford et al: Oxford University Press.
Kasprowicz, D./Rieger, S. (2020a): Introduction. In: This (ed.): Handbook of Virtuality. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 1-22.
Kasprowicz, D./Rieger, S. (eds.) (2020b): Handbook of virtuality. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Knebel, S. K. (2001): Virtuality. In: Historisches Wörterbuch der Philosophie, vol. 11, ed. by Ritter, J./Gründer, K./Gabriel, G., Darmstadt: WBG, pp. 1062-1066.
Levy, P. (1997) Welcome to virtuality In: Digital Creativity, Vol. 8, pp. 3-10, DOI: 10.1080/09579139708567068
Rieger, S. (2014): Human control. On a history of knowledge of virtuality. In: Jeschke, S./Kobbelt, L./Dröge, A. (eds.): Exploring Virtuality. Virtuality in interdisciplinary discourse. Wiesbaden: Springer Spektrum, pp. 19-43.
Rieger, S./Schäfer, A./Tuschling, A. (eds.) (2021): Virtual lifeworlds. Bodies - spaces - affects. Berlin, Boston: de Gruyter.
Roth, P. (2000): Virtualis as a linguistic creation of medieval theologians. In: ders./Schreiber, S. (eds.): Die Anwesenheit des Abwesenden. Theological Approaches to the Concept and Phenomena of Virtuality. Augsburg: Wißner, pp. 33-41.
Sprenger, Florian (2020): Ubiquitous computing vs. virtual reality. Futures of the computer around 1990 and the present of virtuality. In: Kasprowicz, D./Rieger, S. (eds.): Handbuch Virtualität. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 98-109.
Völker, C. (2010): Mobile Media. On the genealogy of mobile communications and the history of ideas of virtuality. Bielefeld: transcript.
Program
You can find the program here [Update 18.09.22].
Conference report
The annual conference of the Commission for Educational Anthropology in the German Educational Research Association took place from September 21 to 23, 2022 at the Faculty of Education of the TUD Dresden University of Technology. In addition to fundamental reflection on the relationship between humans and virtuality (homo virtualis, digitalis, fictionalis, medialis, utopicus, etc.), the conference focused on discussing the significance of virtuality for the description of pedagogical-anthropological dimensions and processes, such as the consideration of education andFor example, the consideration of education and upbringing, learning, imagery, subjectivation, autonomy and knowledge, as well as physicality, vulnerability, violence, mimesis, (social) space, ritual, imagination, myth, art and play. In addition, virtuality was examined as a condition of human appropriation of the world in various pedagogical fields in order to question pedagogical concepts and practices with regard to their pedagogical-anthropological implications in the context of virtuality. The focal points of the individual lectures are briefly summarized below.
At the beginning of the conference, Carsten Heinze, with reference to Gilles Deleuze's conceptualization of virtuality, critically examines Klaus Prange's representational-logical justification of 'showing' as a 'basic gesture' of education. Based on Deleuze's version of the virtual as a real problem structure that still requires actualization, learning is described as an inconclusive creative process of problematization that eludes the logic of representation. From a phenomenological-hermeneutic perspective, Mirka Dickel (Jena), following Klaus Prange's theory of showing, examines teaching and learning as two basic operations of teaching that cannot be derived from each other. Against the background of the theory of mimesis, she discusses the conditions for the interlocking of the two operations in the didactic acts of showing and speaking, which she interprets as virtual.
Karina Limonta Vieira and Anna Pesch (Cottbus) examine the relationship between body, corporeality and virtuality with reference to Don Ihde's philosophy of technology. This basic relationship will be analyzed in the subsequent contribution by Rouven Seebo (Innsbruck) and Timur Rader (Cologne) using a concrete case study of the optimization of the self on the image platform Instagram. Digital spaces are described as virtual spaces of possibility in which processes of change and learning can be observed with regard to the self-images presented. Virtuality as the potential and future possible gains relevance in the pedagogical-anthropological context when one considers that pedagogy is not possible without anthropological ideas. In his contribution, Thomas Senkbeil (Solothurn) refers to this significant interrelationship and, based on the analysis of the film "I am your human" by Maria Schrader, discusses the unavailability of the human being, which consists, among other things, in its corporeality and vulnerability. Following Villém Flusser, Florian Krückel (Würzburg) interprets the virtual as an opening of spaces of possibility that have a poetic 'design character' and, based on this, argues for a reactualization of the concept of education.
At the end of the first day, Jörg Zirfas (Cologne), inspired by Jacques Derrida, called on the participants to learn from ghosts. In doing so, he will address the human forms of and relationships to ghosts as phenomena of experience, memory and anticipation that occur in the course of life.
The second day begins with a lecture by Christoph Wulf (Berlin), who, against the backdrop of digital transformation processes, deals with the threats to humanity in the Anthropocene and sees a prerequisite for finding solutions to current challenges, particularly in the virtual sense of human possibility. In this context, he refers, among other things, to the problem of violence against nature, against other people and against oneself. Liesa Schamel and Moritz Krebs (Cologne) interpret virtuality as a condition for the perception of the world, drawing on theories of imagination and representation, which they distinguish from image-theoretical concepts. Using the example of solidary thinking, the virtual space is viewed as an intersubjective space of imagination that opens up potential for networking, support and liberation. The reconstruction of the perceptibility of virtuality is the focus of the contribution by Jeanette Böhme and Annabelle Bußmann (Essen). Based on the investigation of smartphone practices in "passage places", they show the entanglements of media modes of perception and media-practical movement patterns as synthesis achievements.
Frederike Schmidt and Katharina Bock (Siegen) analyze the virtually designed lifeworlds of young people in self-produced gangster rap songs and interpret them as a game with possible realities in the context of the formation of self and world relations. Sabine Seichter (Salzburg) reconstructs the "visualization of the invisible" by presenting the pictorial, virtual representations of the prenatal embryo in the course of history. The possibility of creating and thus also representing and staging prenatal life with the help of modern technology and media leads to the anthropologically significant abolition of the boundaries between pre- and postnatal life. Thomas Grunau (Halle) examines meditation apps for children and asks about the anthropology of virtual relaxation. In doing so, he questions the underlying image of humanity of the commercial providers of these apps.
In his contribution, Siegfried Däschler-Seiler (Stuttgart) deals with the virtualization of teaching in the sense of its digitalization and, following Kant, Herbart and Schleiermacher, among others, argues for a return to the art of teaching. Stefanie Jäger (Innsbruck) examines the significance of virtual spaces of opportunity in competitive sport. She assumes that in these spaces, new forms of movement can be developed in an "as-if mode" through the virtual experience or that already learned movements can be improved and optimized. Sophia Feige (Jena) focuses on role-playing as a teaching method. She interprets the assumption of roles as the imagination of the stranger and not, as is usually the case, as its dissolution. This will be illustrated using pen and paper role-playing games.
In his lecture, Ruprecht Mattig (Dortmund) discusses the view of man as homo tragicus, who is characterized by his future-oriented (virtual) and fatal design and action character. Mattig argues for a different way of thinking about human beings in a time of crisis (Anthropocene) and for devoting more attention to the tragic moments of existence, which are expressed in terms such as dilemma, conflict and doom. In the context of virtuality, Matthias Steffel (Salzburg) asks to what extent people really are what they appear to be. The as-if as an anthropological constant and the contrast between hypocrisy and truthfulness are reconstructed in terms of philosophical and cultural history. With reference to materialist pedagogy, Robert Schneider-Reisinger (Salzburg) examines virtuality as a mode of "not-yet" in the metaphor of the mirror, which he uses as a model to reconstruct the conditions of human experience and knowledge. Against the background of understanding the virtual world as a utopia, i.e. as a possible world that can have an effect on reality as a construct, Konstantinos Masmanidis (Dresden) asks whether anarchism or a concept of education and upbringing based on anarchism can be described as a virtual world.
Overall, the conference highlighted both key aspects and open research questions on the significance of virtuality as a condition of human appropriation of the world from a pedagogical-anthropological perspective, thereby also highlighting the need for a pedagogy of virtuality. A conference volume is currently in preparation.
(Peter Bauer, Konstantinos Masmanidis, Carsten Heinze)