Lecture by Rahul Mukherjee on ‘Proximate Exposures: Media and Radiance’ [Critical Humanities event] on 5 March 2021 via Zoom. It will be chaired by Ravi Sundaram. The discussant will be Veena Hariharan.

Friday, 5 March 2021, 5 pm. Zoom: http://bit.ly/2ZMHoJ0

CLICK TO JOIN THE LECTURE 

ZOOM ID: 972 5408 4679               PASSCODE: csdsdelhi

This lecture examines how human bodies cope with the proximity of radiant infrastructures such as nuclear reactors and cell antennas, in other words—their unwanted intimacies with radioactive nuclides and wireless signals. The “radiance” of radiant infrastructures is a double-edged sword, because these infrastructures are at once harbingers of development and emitters of potentially harmful radiations. Mediation accentuates both aspects of radiance. In particular, this lecture will explore two questions: how do various media portray the proximity of people living close to reactors and antennas, and how do these media depict bodily exposure to emissions by such radiant infrastructures?

Rahul Mukherjee is Associate Professor of Television and New Media in the Cinema Studies program at University of Pennsylvania. His first book Radiant Infrastructures: Media, Environment, and Cultures of Uncertainty (Duke University Press 2020) explores the ecological dimensions of media and energy infrastructures like cell towers and nuclear reactors. Rahul presently serves on the editorial collective of the Journal of Visual Culture and the editorial advisory board of Media+Environment.

Discussant

Veena Hariharan is Associate Professor, Cinema Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Chair

Ravi Sundaram is Professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi.