Audio recordings (with accompanying slide shows) for a class I taught March 6-April 3, 2022

Angelology, writes Regis Debray, should be read as “mediology in a mystic or nebulous state.” Angels and their structural counterparts (demons) are (in)visible messengers that raise curious questions about communication, transmission, relation, and thought. We’ll ask, through readings of ancient, medieval, and modern philosophical and theological texts, as well as fiction, poetry, and visual art: What moves in the space between? Who/what mediates our experiences and ways of relating? How does the medium alter/transmit the message? What were medieval understandings of angelic/demonic messengers and how might they help us understand our own myriad transmissions? What the hell is happening with the internet? This is a reading and writing workshop focusing on zooming-in on modes of ancient and modern transmission, using various understandings of mediation (supernatural and otherwise) to think about our hypermediated now.

You’ll receive access to the class google drive which contains tons of scanned readings and resources on media studies, angelology, and their intersections, recordings, and slide shows. Each of the five workshops is devoted to exploring one specific aspect of transmission and mediation through focused attention. This is a generative class with about 20-30 minutes of in-class writing time and prompts will focus on experimenting with mediums, messengers, disappearance and appearance, and analog and digital modes.

Readings span several centuries and come from Pseudo-Dionysius, Saint Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Regis Debray, bell hooks, Giorgio Agamben, Byung-Chul Han, Kathy Acker, Ibn ‘Arabi, Michel Serres, Elizabeth Klein, Legacy Russell, Thomas Ligotti, Eugene Thacker, bell hooks, Sybille Kramer, Jean Baudrillard, Melody Jue, and others.

When you purchase, you’ll receive the full syllabi and a link to the google drive with all class materials.

WEEKLY THEMES

WEEK 1: MESSENGERS, MEDIUMS, INTERMEDIARIES

WEEK 2: ETERNITY + HIERARCHY

WEEK 3: ON ANGELS + DEMONS, THEN AND NOW

WEEK 4: (ANGELIC?) TRANSMISSION + SPACE

WEEK 5: MASS MEDIA, ATTENTION, THE INTERNET