Asian Futures: Robots, Gender, and Techno-Spirituality in Japan

Photograph of Pepper, humanoid robot wearing religious clothing.

November 18, 2022

3:30PM - 5:00PM

Pomerene Hall 260

Add to Calendar 2022-11-18 16:30:00 2022-11-18 18:00:00 Asian Futures: Robots, Gender, and Techno-Spirituality in Japan Asian Futures group is hosting Jennifer Robertson (Professor Emerita, University of Michigan) for a talk on "Robots, Gender, and Techno-Spirituality in Japan." Many Japanese roboticists building humanoids today have sought to imbue their gendered robots with kokoro, or “heart,” “consciousness,” and “emotion.” Recently, the popular media have been full of references to “emotional” (kokoro-bearing) and even “spiritual” robots, with specific reference to Pepper, SoftBank’s humanoid that debuted in 2015. Robertson will discuss (and demystify) efforts to develop Pepper’s “emotional recognition engine” based on biology-inspired “digital hormones.” In this connection, she will revisit the declaration by pioneering roboticist Mori Masahiro that robots have the “Buddha-nature” within them and consider how gendered robotic technologies are deployed by humans to give shape and expression to their spiritual ideas and needs. Jennifer Robertson is Professor Emerita of Anthropology and the History of Art at the University of Michigan (UM), Ann Arbor. She is also an affiliate faculty of the Robotics Institute and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG), UM, and Affiliate Professor of Anthropology and Japan Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Robertson’s seven books and over eighty articles and chapters address a wide spectrum of subjects in Anthropology, History of Art, and Japan Studies ranging from the 17th century to the present. Among her books are Native and Newcomer: Making and Remaking a Japanese City (1991) and Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan (1998, Japanese edition 2000), and Robo Sapiens Japanicus: Robots, Gender, Family, and the Japanese Nation (2018). She is currently researching, writing, and editing articles on the cultural history of Japanese popular eugenics, bio-art and contemporary art, and human-robot interfaces on and off stage in Japan and elsewhere. More information about her current and previous work can be found on her website: https://professorjenniferrobertson.com/ The talk will be hosted in 260 Pomerene Hall and is sponsored by the Asian Futures Initiative. This event is free and open to the public. Pomerene Hall 260 OSU ASC Drupal 8 ascwebservices@osu.edu America/New_York public

Add to Calendar 2022-11-18 15:30:00 2022-11-18 17:00:00 Asian Futures: Robots, Gender, and Techno-Spirituality in Japan Asian Futures group is hosting Jennifer Robertson (Professor Emerita, University of Michigan) for a talk on "Robots, Gender, and Techno-Spirituality in Japan."  Many Japanese roboticists building humanoids today have sought to imbue their gendered robots with kokoro, or “heart,” “consciousness,” and “emotion.” Recently, the popular media have been full of references to “emotional” (kokoro-bearing) and even “spiritual” robots, with specific reference to Pepper, SoftBank’s humanoid that debuted in 2015. Robertson will discuss (and demystify) efforts to develop Pepper’s “emotional recognition engine” based on biology-inspired “digital hormones.” In this connection, she will revisit the declaration by pioneering roboticist Mori Masahiro that robots have the “Buddha-nature” within them and consider how gendered robotic technologies are deployed by humans to give shape and expression to their spiritual ideas and needs. Jennifer Robertson is Professor Emerita of Anthropology and the History of Art at the University of Michigan (UM), Ann Arbor. She is also an affiliate faculty of the Robotics Institute and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG), UM, and Affiliate Professor of Anthropology and Japan Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Robertson’s seven books and over eighty articles and chapters address a wide spectrum of subjects in Anthropology, History of Art, and Japan Studies ranging from the 17th century to the present. Among her books are Native and Newcomer: Making and Remaking a Japanese City (1991) and Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan (1998, Japanese edition 2000), and Robo Sapiens Japanicus: Robots, Gender, Family, and the Japanese Nation (2018). She is currently researching, writing, and editing articles on the cultural history of Japanese popular eugenics, bio-art and contemporary art, and human-robot interfaces on and off stage in Japan and elsewhere. More information about her current and previous work can be found on her website: https://professorjenniferrobertson.com/ The talk will be hosted in 260 Pomerene Hall and is sponsored by the Asian Futures Initiative. This event is free and open to the public.     Pomerene Hall 260 Humanities Institute huminst@osu.edu America/New_York public

Asian Futures group is hosting Jennifer Robertson (Professor Emerita, University of Michigan) for a talk on "Robots, Gender, and Techno-Spirituality in Japan."

Many Japanese roboticists building humanoids today have sought to imbue their gendered robots with kokoro, or “heart,” “consciousness,” and “emotion.” Recently, the popular media have been full of references to “emotional” (kokoro-bearing) and even “spiritual” robots, with specific reference to Pepper, SoftBank’s humanoid that debuted in 2015. Robertson will discuss (and demystify) efforts to develop Pepper’s “emotional recognition engine” based on biology-inspired “digital hormones.” In this connection, she will revisit the declaration by pioneering roboticist Mori Masahiro that robots have the “Buddha-nature” within them and consider how gendered robotic technologies are deployed by humans to give shape and expression to their spiritual ideas and needs.

Jennifer Robertson is Professor Emerita of Anthropology and the History of Art at the University of Michigan (UM), Ann Arbor. She is also an affiliate faculty of the Robotics Institute and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG), UM, and Affiliate Professor of Anthropology and Japan Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Robertson’s seven books and over eighty articles and chapters address a wide spectrum of subjects in Anthropology, History of Art, and Japan Studies ranging from the 17th century to the present. Among her books are Native and Newcomer: Making and Remaking a Japanese City (1991) and Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan (1998, Japanese edition 2000), and Robo Sapiens Japanicus: Robots, Gender, Family, and the Japanese Nation (2018). She is currently researching, writing, and editing articles on the cultural history of Japanese popular eugenics, bio-art and contemporary art, and human-robot interfaces on and off stage in Japan and elsewhere.

More information about her current and previous work can be found on her website: https://professorjenniferrobertson.com/

The talk will be hosted in 260 Pomerene Hall and is sponsored by the Asian Futures Initiative. This event is free and open to the public.

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