Dr. Dennis M.Weiss
Professor Of Philosophy York College Of Pennsylvania
York College of Pennsylvania Department of the Arts and Humanities 441 Country Club road York, PA 17403-3651
Education
Ph.D. in Philosophy, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas. May, 1991.Dissertation title: Renewing Anthropological Thought: Philosophy and the Human Being,directed by Dr. Douglas Browning.
B.A. in Philosophy (magna cum laude), Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. May, 1983.Honors Thesis: “Cognitive Psychology and the Lingering Influence of Behaviorism,”directed by Dr. Nicholas Fotion.
Employment
York College of Pennsylvania.
Professor, 2007 to 2024.
Associate Professor of Philosophy, 1998 to 2007.
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, 1992 to 1998.
Scholarship
Monograph
Designing the Domestic Posthuman, co-authored with Colbey Emmerson Reid. Bloomsbury Press. January 2024.
Edited Volumes
Design, Mediation, and the Posthuman. Co-edited with Amy Propen and Colbey Emmerson Reid. Lexington Books: Lanham, Maryland, 2014.
Introduction to Philosophy. An online textbook produced for mydigitaltext.com, 2010.
Interpreting Man. The Davies Group Publishers. Aurora: CO, 2002.
Substack
Triangulations: Reflections on Being Human
Journal Publications & Book Chapters
“The Flux Series of Time.” Back to the Future and Philosophy. Edited by Joshua Heter and Richard Grene. Open Court: Chicago. Forthcoming, February 2026.
“What is an Addendum to What? Rethinking Mediation Theory and Symbolic Mediation.” Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 13 (12): 32–40.
“Alternative domiciles for the domestic posthuman.” Architectural Digest: Special Issue Posthuman Architectures. Volume 94, Issue 1 (January/February 2024) 52 – 61.
“Natality and the Posthuman Condition.” Film and Philosophy. Volume 27, (2023) 29 - 46.
“Hugo and the Automaton.” Literature/Film Quarterly. Vol. 49, No. 2 (Spring 2021).
“Learning to Be Human with Sociable Robots.” Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics. Vol. 11 (2020) 19 – 30.
“On the Subject of Technology.” Azimuth. Philosophical Coordinates in Modern and Contemporary Age, Volume 14, No. 2 (2019) 27 – 40. DOI: 10.1400/275006
“Persons and a Metaphysics of the Navel.” Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy. Vol.1 (2018).
“Time to Write My Own Fucking Story.” Westworld and Philosophy. Edited by Joshua Heter and Richard Greene. Open Court: Chicago. 2018.
“Machines Who Care.” Twilight Zone and Philosophy. Edited by Heather Rivera and Alexander Hooke. Open Court: Chicago. 2018.
“Juliana in Plato’s Cave.” The Man in the High Castle and Philosophy. Edited by Bruce Krajewski and Joshua Heter. Open Court: Chicago. 2017.
“Post-human Television: Part One.” Post-Screen: Intermittence + Interference. Ana Maria Moutinho, Ana Teresa Vicente, Helena Ferreira, José Gomes Pinto and Judite Primo, Editors. Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias Press. November, 2016.
“Humans, Androids, Cyborgs, and Virtual Beings: All Aboard the Enterprise.” The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy: The Search for Socrates. Edited by Kevin Decker and Jason Eberl. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. 180 – 189.
“Recent Texts in Philosophy of Law.” Teaching Philosophy. Volume 38, Issue 2. June 2015. 221 – 234. https://doi.org/10.5840/teachphil201538233
“Introduction: The Cultural Un/Life of Zombies.” Co-authored with Victor Taylor. The Cultural and Political Life of Zombies: A JCRT Special Edition. Edited by Dennis Weiss and Victor Taylor. 13.2 Summer 2014.
“Introduction” and “Seduced by the Machine.” Design, Mediation, and the Posthuman. Co-edited with Amy Propen and Colbey Emmerson Reid. Lexington Books: Lanham, Maryland, 2014.
“Failures of Convergence.” Form and Technology: Reading Ernst Cassirer from the Present. Edited Aud Sissel Hoel and Ingvild Folkvord. Palgrave, 2012.
“Dick Doesn’t Do Heroes.” Written with Justin Nicholas. Philip K. Dick and Philosophy. Edited by Dylan Wittkower. Open Court, 2011.
“Transforming the Symbolic Animal: Ernst Cassirer and the Posthuman.” Humanities and Technology Review. October, 2011, 1 – 23.
“The Natural Look: Extreme Makeovers and the Limits of Self-Fashioning.” Written with Rebecca Kukla. Cosmetic Surgery: A Feminist Primer. Edited by Cressida Heyes and Meredith Jones. Ashgate Publishing, August, 2009. 117 – 132.
“Human-Technology-World.” Techne: Research in Philosophy and Technology. Vol. 12, No. 2 Spring 2008. Available at https://doi.org/10.5840/techne20081228
“Humanity at the Turning Point: Philosophical Anthropology and the Posthuman.” Expositions. Vol 1 (No. 2) Fall, 2007, 191 – 222. doi:10.1558/expo.v1i2.191
“My Extreme Makeover: A Question of Limits.” Humanities and Technology Review. Vol. 25, Fall, 2006, 17 – 28.
“Digital Ambivalence: Utopia, Dystopia, and the Digital Cosmos.” The Utopian Fantastic, ed. Martha Batter. West Port, Connecticut: Praeger, 2004, 67 – 80.
“Introduction: The Cultural Un/Life of Zombies.” Co-authored with Victor Taylor. The Cultural and Political Life of Zombies: A JCRT Special Edition. Edited by Dennis Weiss and Victor Taylor. 13.2 Summer 2014.
“Multiple Selves and the Internet Age.” Humanities and Technology Review. Vol. 22, Fall 2003, 1 – 20.
“The Anthropological Task.” In Interpreting Man. Ed. Dennis M. Weiss. The Davies Group Publishers. Aurora: CO, 2002. 3 – 25.
“Star Trek and the Posthuman.” Humanities and Technology Review. Vol. 19, Fall 2000, 25 – 48.
“The Philosophical Task in a Digital Age.” Contemporary Philosophy. Vol. XXI No. 5 and 6, Sep/Oct & Nov/Dec 1999, 20 – 26.
“Max Scheler and Philosophical Anthropology.” Philosophy Today. Vol. 42, No. 3, Fall 1998, 235 – 249. https://doi.org/10.5840/philtoday199842325
“Community, Democracy, and the Metaphors of Cyberspace.” Humanities and Technology Review. Vol. 17, Fall 1998, 4 – 25.
“Alternative Identities, Artificial Minds, and Digital Lives: Where Philosophy Meets the Computer Culture.” Proteus: A Journal of Ideas. Volume 14, No. 1, Spring 1997, 44 – 48.
“Artificial Intelligence and the Return of the Repressed.” Southwest Philosophy Review. Vol. 11, No. 2, 1995, 207 – 228. https://doi.org/10.5840/swphilreview199511232
“Renewing Anthropological Reflection.” Man and World. Vol. 27, 1994, 1 – 13. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01279036
Public Philosophy
Curator and Presenter of “Philosophy, Drinks, and Film” a monthly film series at Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse, Lancaster, PA.
Review Essays
Review of Fixed: The Science/Fiction of Human Enhancement and The Social Dilemma. Films for the Feminist Classroom. Issue 12.1, Summer 2023.
“Computer Relations: A review of N. Herzfeld, In Our Image: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Spirit.” Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory. Vol. 3, No. 3, August 2002.
“Mecha Love: A Review of Steven Spielberg’s A.I.” Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory. Vol. 2, No. 3, August 2001.
“Posthuman Pleasures: A Review of N. Katherine Hayles’ How We Became Posthuman.” Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory. Vol. 1, No. 3, August, 2000.
Proceedings/Encyclopedia Entries
“Anthony Kenny Gets Cured: Religious Memes and How Not to Think About Culture.” Proceedings of the Humanities and Technology Association Annual Conference, October, 2004.
“The Internet and Identity.” Proceedings of Interface 1997: The 22nd Annual Humanities and Technology Conference, October, 1997.
“Community, Democracy, Cyberspace.” Proceedings of Interface 1996: The 21st Annual Humanities and Technology Conference, October, 1996. 53-55.
“Digital Culture.” The Routledge Encyclopedia of Postmodern Culture. Victor Taylor, Editor. New York: Routledge, May 2001.
Conference Presentations
“Posthuman Second Personhood and the Art of Care: Recognition and Empathy in Literature and Film.” Presented at the Lit/Film Association Conference, York College of Pennsylvania, September 28, 2024.
“Dialogic Being and Technosymbiosis.” Presented at the Society for Phenomenology and Media 25th Annual Conference, Tallinn, Estonia, May 16, 2024.
“The Human Style in Fashion’s Posthuman Turn.” Presented at The Elements of Fashion International Conference, Università Iuav di Venezia, Venice, March 16 – 17, 2023.
“In the end, they ate the dog: on technogenesis and the Anthropocene.” Presented at the 3rd Philosophy and Human Technology Relations Conference, Aalborg University, Copenhagen, July 5 – 7, 2022.
“Natality and the Posthuman Condition.” Presented at the 2022 Film and Philosophy Summer Workshop, June 10, 2022. [Virtual]
“The Domestic Posthuman: Hardware.” Presented at the 2 nd Philosophy of HumanTechnology Relations Conference, Twente University, Entschede, The Netherlands, November 4 – 7, 2020. [Virtual]
“Televisual Thinking: Locating a Critical Posthumanism in, on, and with our Televisions.” Presented at the 11th Beyond Humanism Conference, Catholic University of Lille, France. July 9 – 12, 2019.
“Learning to Be Human with Sociable Robots.” Presented at the 4th International Conference on Love and Sex with Robots, l’Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. July 1 – 2, 2019
“On the Subject of Technology.” Presented at the Subjectivity and Digital Culture Conference, Technical University Dresden, Germany. September 5 – 7, 2018.
“Searching for Sophia on Our Small Screens.” Presented at the 2018 Gettysburg College Philosophy and Cinema Symposium. Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA. April 13 - 14, 2018.
“Infusing Critical Thinking Throughout FYS and FYE.” Presented at the 37th Annual FYE Conference. San Antonio, TX. Feb. 12, 2018.
“The Posthuman and Television.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Humanities and Technology Association. Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island. Nov. 4, 2017.
“How Ought We to Treat Our Televisions.” Presented at the 2017 meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Technology. Technische Universität, Darmstadt, Germany. June 14 – 17, 2017.
“How Ought We to Treat Our Televisions.” Presented at the 30th Annual Conference of the PASSHE Interdisciplinary Association for Philosophy and Religious Studies, March 31 – April 1 2017, Millersville University
“The FYS as Site of Critical Inquiry and Thinking.” Presented at the 36th Annual FYE Conference. Atlanta, GA. February, 2017.
“Posthuman TV.” Post-Screen Festival, 2016. Lisbon, Portugal. November 17 – 18, 2016.
“Gender, Technology, and the Posthuman.” Presented at the Science, Technology, and Gender: Challenges and Opportunities Conference. The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. August 10 – 13, 2014.
“Selves, Matter, and Technology in the Digital Era.” Presented at the 18th International Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology. Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. July 4 – 6, 2013.
“Seduced by the Machine.” Presented at the 11th International Conference of the Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry Society. Autonomous University, Lisbon, Portugal. July 1 -3, 2013.
“Posthuman Symmetries.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Humanities and Technology Association. St. Thomas University, Miami, FL. Nov. 7 – 9, 2013.
“Hugo and the Automaton.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Humanities and Technology Association. Bowie State University, Bowie, MD. Oct. 4 – 6, 2012.
“Gender, Technology, and the Posthuman.” Presented at the 11th World Congress of Bioethics. Rotterdam, The Netherlands. June 24 – 27, 2012.
“Relational Artifacts.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Humanities and Technology Association. Bowie State University, Bowie, MD. Oct. 13 – 15, 2011.
“Transforming the Symbolic Animal.” Presented at Transforming Humanity Conference, sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Bioethics Research Center, Center for Neuroethics, and Center for Rational Inquiry. Philadelphia, PA. December 4 – 5, 2010.
“Converging Technologies and Global Development.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Humanities and Technology Association. Bowie State University, Bowie, MD. Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2010.
“Technopolitics and Kinds of People.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Humanities and Technology Association. University of Virginia. Sept. 24 – 27, 2009.
“Failures of Convergence.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Technology. University of Twente, The Netherlands. July 8 - 10, 2009.
“Appropriating Darwin.” To be presented at “Darwin’s Reach.” Hofstra University, New York, March 13, 2009.
“The Magic of Critique: Science and Technology Studies in Joss Whedon’s Televisual Cosmos.” Presented at “Buffy Hereafter: From the Whedonverse to the Whedonesque; An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Work of Joss Whedon and its Aftereffects.” Istanbul, Turkey, October, 2007.
“Human-Technology-Culture” and “Homelessness in the High-Tech Age.” Presented at the bi-annual meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Technology. Charleston, SC, July 8 – 11, 2007.
“(De)Naturalizing the Cyborg: Science Meets (Feminist) Sci Fi.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association. Princeton University, March 24 – 26, 2006.
“Rethinking Humanity at the Turning Point.” Presented at the fifth annual meeting of the ISUD, Helsinki Finland July 15-20, 2005. Organized by ISUD, Renvall Institute for Area and Cultural Studies, Department of Social and Moral Philosophy of University of Helsinki.
“(De)-Naturalizing the Cyborg: Science Meets (Feminist) Sci Fi.” Presented at the Popular Culture Association, San Diego, California. April, 2005.
“Extreme Makeovers and the Limits of Self-Creation.” Presented at the American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meeting, Boston, Ma. December, 2004.
“Anthony Kenny Gets Cured: Religious Memes and How Not to Think About Culture.” Presented at the Humanities and Technology Association Conference. York College of Pennsylvania, York, PA. October, 2004.
“Extreme Makeovers: The Ethics of Self-Creation.” Paper presented at the Humanities and Technology Association Conference. Dowling College, Long Island, NY. October, 2003.
“Cyberspace, Cosmos, and Community.” Paper presented at the Popular Culture Association, New Orleans, Louisiana. April, 2003.
“Posthuman Problems.” Paper presented at the Humanities and Technology Association Conference. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana. October, 2002.
“Digital Homes for Digital Selves: Space, Community, and Self-Identity in the Computer Culture.” Paper presented at Calibrations, The Center for Humanities Research, Texas A&M University, April, 2002.
“Star Trek’s Human Nature.” Paper presented at the Popular Culture Association Conference, Philadelphia April, 2001.
“How to Care for your Android: Feminist Standpoint Theory and Technology.” Humanities and Technology Association Conference. The University of Virginia, Charlottesville. October, 2000.
“Looking Backward Toward the Future: Human Nature, Technology, and Star Trek.” Presented at Interface ’99: The 24th Annual Humanities and Technology Association Conference, Atlanta, GA, September 29, 1999.
“Cyberculture: A Postmodern Site?” Presented at the International Association of Philosophy and Literature Conference, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, May 1999.
“Digital Ambivalence: Utopia, Dystopia, and the Digital Cosmos.” Presented at the 1999 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL, March 17-20, 1999.
“Human Nature and the Digital Culture.” Presented at the 1998 World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, MA, August, 1998.
“The Internet and Identity.” Presented at Interface ’97: The 22nd Annual Humanities and Technology Conference, Atlanta, GA, October 16, 1997.
“Teaching Philosophy at the Four Year College.” Presented at the Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Pittsburgh, PA, April 23, 1997.
“Community, Democracy, Cyberspace.” Presented at Interface ’96: The 21st Annual Humanities and Technology Conference, Atlanta, GA, October 17 - 18, 1996.
“Philosophy and the Computer Culture.” Presented at the 11th International Workshop-Conference on Teaching Philosophy, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, July 31 - August 4, 1996.
“Modernity and the Computer Culture.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Popular Culture Association, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 6 - 9, 1994.
“Teaching Human Nature.” Presented at the 10th International WorkshopConference on Teaching Philosophy, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, August 4 - 8, 1994.
“Identity, Difference, and Community.” Presented at the Discovering our Past, Defining our Future Women's Studies Conference, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky, September 23 - 24, 1993.
“Solidarity or Fragmentation: Whither Feminism?” Presented at Women on the Threshold of the 21st Century, Women's Studies Conference, Central Pennsylvania Consortium, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, March 6, 1993.
“Human Nature and Criminal Anthropology.” Presented at the Psychology, Law, and Society colloquium, York College of Pennsylvania, York, Pennsylvania, February 18, 1993.
“Feminist Legal Scholarship and the Question of Difference.” Presented at Women and Law, Women's Studies Conference, Central Pennsylvania Consortium, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 11, 1992.
“The Great Beyond: Objectivism, Relativism, and Social Practice.” Presented at the Relativism, History of Science, and Literary Theory colloquium, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, April 14, 1988.
Grants and Awards
2021 Summer Research Fellow Program: “Posthuman Technogenesis”
2019 Summer Research Fellow Program: “On the Subject of Technology”
2012 Summer Research Fellow Program: “Sociable Robots”
2008 FDC Lecture Grant, York College
2006 Summer Research Fellow Program: “Being Digital”
2004 Research and Publication Grant, York College.
2003 Research and Publication Grant, York College.
1999 Research and Publication Grant, York College.
1996 - 97 Commonwealth Speaker, Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
1997 Summer Stipend for Research, York College. “Self-Identity and the Computer Culture”
1995 Research and Publications Grant, York College.
1994 Summer Stipend for Research, York College. “Computers and Human Nature”
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Professional Service
Departmental
Philosophy and Religious Studies Coordinator, 2012 to 2019.
Chair, English and Humanities Department, 1999 to 2008.
Long Range Planning Committee, 1992 to 2019. Co-chair, 1996 – 1999.
Humanities Committee, 1996 to present. Chair, 1996 – 1999.
Ad Hoc Committee on Writing, 2000.
Ad Hoc Self-Study Subcommittee, 1995.
“PDF: Philosophy, Drink, Film” Program Coordinator for Zoetropolis Cinema Stillhouse, 2019 to present.
Public Philosophy
Advocacy Committee of the Cultural Alliance of York County, 2004
Grant Reviewer, Pennsylvania Humanities Council, 1997 to present.
York College Speaker's Bureau, 1993 to 1999.
Penn Manor School District Strategic Planning Process, Social Studies SubCommittee. June, 1994 to February, 1996.
College
Assistant Director of General Education for First-Year Seminars, 2013 - 2022.
General Education and Assessment Committee, 2013 – 2022.
Promotion and Tenure Committee, 2018 – 2022.
First-Year Experience Committee, 2013 – 2022.
Retention Committee, 2013 – 2020.
Academic Senate President, 2011 – 2013.
Faculty Development Committee, 2004 to 2010.
Faculty Task Force, Middle States Self-Study, 2004.
Pre-Law Advisory Council, 2003 - present.
Core Review Task Force, 2002.
Academic Council, 2000 - 2009.
Academic Excellence Committee, 2000 - 2004
Dean’s Search Advisory Committee, 2001
Institutional Technology Advisory Group, 2001 - 2004
Trustee Honors Scholarship Committee, 1997 - 2005.
Student Scholarship Day Committee, 1998 – 2003
College-Wide Cultural Program Committee, Fall 2000.
Long Range Planning Committee, 1994 – 2000. Long Range Planning Task Force, 1996 – 1997.
Honors Task Force Spring, 1997.
Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Governance, 1999.
Organization/Governance Task Force, Middle States Self-Study, 1994 – 1995.
Academic Computing Advisory Committee, 1992 - 1995.