A Short Introduction to Cyborg Anthropology

Amber Case
@caseorganic
http://oakhazelnut.com/
Amber received her degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Lewis & Clark College in this Spring with a thesis on “The Cell Phone and Its Technosocial sites of Engagement". She blogs about technology at Oakhazelnut.com and co-hosts a podcast called Hazelnut Tech Talk. You can find her technosocially interacting with humans and computers at most Portland tech events and conferences.
Humans have always developed technologies to help them survive and thrive, but in recent decades the rapid escalation and intensification of the human-technology interface have exceeded anything ever known.

How we interact with machines and technology in many ways defines who we are. Cyborg Anthropology is a lens with which to understand what's happening to us in a world mediated by dynamic objects, processes, and change.

This speech will cover three things:

First, a definition of Cyborg Anthropology (what's a cyborg, and what's not?).
Second, what a Cyborg Anthropologist does (and what it's like to work in the field). And third, how you too can be a Cyborg Anthropologist (insta-cyborg!).