Interdisciplinary student David Cecchetto (English/Visual Arts with a Concentration in Cultural, Social, and Political Thought) received both the Governor General's Gold Medal as well as the 2011 CAGS/UMI Distinguished Dissertation Award.

His dissertation explores the relationship between technology and what we are as humans. “We understand ourselves through our actions and behaviours, and it is clear that these are—and have always been—directly impacted by our relationship with technologies, in the broadest sense of the term,” he says.

“This is an area that is obviously of increasing importance as technologies become both ubiquitous and deeply embedded in our daily lives, and a number of important thinkers have taken it up under the auspices of something called critical posthumanism. I examine three prominent strains of this discourse, in each case seeking after the assumptions and biases that underwrite the perspective, as well as the effects that each has on how we understand our actions as meaningful. What makes my approach unique is that I have linked my critiques to analyses of contemporary new media artworks, specifically emphasizing the ways that attending to sound can offer fresh purchase on these questions.”

Read about David's exploration of technological posthumanism.