Paul Boshears

Paul Boshears

Biography

Dr. Paul Boshears is currently Limited Term Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Kennesaw State University.

He is co-editor of the media-agnostic publication, continent. (www.continentcontinent.cc) and serves on several journals including Deleuze Studies (Edinburgh University Press), Itineration (Clemson University, punctum books), and Evental Aesthetics (independent).

Dr. Boshears earned his PhD from the Philosophy, Art and Critical Thought program at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland under the advisement of Prof. Dr. Avital Ronell. His dissertation, “Chinese Whispers: Addiction and Confucian Philosophy,” examines the relationship between the reception of Chinese philosophy in the Occident and the medicalization of the term “addiction” in the nineteenth century.

Currently he is engaged in a three-year experimental publication collaboration with the Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s “Technosphere Research Project” (www.hkw.de/technosphere) in Berlin, investigating the origins and future itineraries of global technology and its identity within a series of international events, performances, seminars, and conferences.

His research is concerned with the nature of human relationships and the objects that mediate them. Dr. Boshears specializes in East-West comparative philosophy, emphasizing Chinese philosophy, Aesthetics, as well as contemporary French and German contributions to the philosophy of technology.

Indicative publications include:

Boshears, Paul. “Mass Shock Therapy for Atlanta’s Psych(ot)ic Suburban Legacy,” in “We’re All Infected” Essays on AMC’s The Walking Dead and the Fate of the Human, edited by Dawn Keetley. Jefferson: McFarland & Co.

Boshears, Paul. “Addiction and Actants: The Autonomy Possible in Assemblages.” American Journal of Bioethics-Neuroscience 3 (2): 59-61.

Boshears, Paul, Liam Harbry, and Miriam Boeri. “Addiction and Sociality: Perspectives from Methamphetamine Users in Suburban USA.” Addiction Research and Theory 19 (4): 289-301.

Dr. Boshears maintains an active artistic practice and creative consultancy. Recent activities (as the continent. Editorial Collective) include the London Design Bienniale (2018), documenta 14 (Athens, GR), Vorbrenner17 (Innsbruck, AT), and the Atlanta Biennial (USA). His writings on art have appeared in New American Paintingse-flux, and Art Papers.

Indicative research presentations:

“Medical Models of Reality Are Metaphysical Models: Opium Use in Early Modern China,” panel sponsored by the International Society for Chinese Philosophy, American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting. January, 2018.

“Atlanta as a Site for Critical Inquiry for Contemporary Art Students,” Seventh Annual Conference on Scholarly Teaching. Georgia State University, April, 2017.

“Kulturtechniken for an Aesthetic Intervention Involving Domestic Surveillance Technologies,” with Justin Joque, Aesthetics of Surveillance Conference. Vanderbilt University, March, 2017.

“Physiocracy, Laissez-faire, Wuwei 無為: Our Chinese Dispositif,” panel sponsored by the International Society for Comparative Studies of Chinese and Western Philosophy, American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting, January, 2017.

An AmeriCorps VISTA alum, Dr. Boshears has served the Atlanta non-profit and arts communities in a variety of capacities from curatorial to administrative.

For future appearances, consultations, and recent publications please visit: www.paulboshears.com.

Read a recent interview with Paul Boshears: Saas Fee, Switzerland’s Talent Factory for Great Thinkers: A Conversation with EGS Alumnus Paul Boshears