Dr Phaedra Shanbaum
Biography
I am an assistant professor in the media studies department at Maynooth University. My research is interdisciplinary, drawing on media and cultural criticism and theory, art history and computer science (HCI). I link theory and criticism around these topics to contemporary digital media arts practices – specifically interactive and immersive environments and digital performance art -- exploring questions around the ever-changing relationship between the body and technology. In doing so, I ask questions around what a body is and what it could potentially become when rethought, in productive ways, through and with technology. I am the author of two books on this topic: Interfaces and Interactive New Media Installations (Routledge, 2019) and Aesthetics, Gender and Disability in New Media Art (Routledge, 2024).
Research Interests
My research interests include digital art, philosophy of technology, aesthetic and technology with a focus on interactive and immersive digital art installations and performance. My focus is on digital media, which I approach from a visual arts and performance studies perspective, intersecting with science and technology studies (STS), gender studies, and posthumanist feminist philosophy.