Book Talk | Lisa Messeri | In the Land of the Unreal: Virtual and Other Realities in Los Angeles

Join the Institute for Public Knowledge on October 9th at 5:30 PM for a book talk with Lisa Messeri. She will discuss her new book In the Land of the Unreal: Virtual and Other Realities in Los Angeles in conversation with Faye Ginsburg and Natasha Schull.

Lisa Messeri is an associate professor of sociocultural anthropology at Yale University. She is also affiliated with Program in the History of Science and Medicine. Her first book, Placing Outer Space, considers how “planet” is not only a cosmic concept, but also a humanistic one. Her new book, In the Land of the Unreal, seeks to understand how the recent resurgence of virtual reality hinged on a belief that the technology could repair rifts in reality. Messeri’s research has been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Wired, The Atlantic, Slate, CNN, PBS, and more. She has spoken domestically and internationally at academic institutions, film festivals, and museums. She earned my Ph.D. from MIT’s program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society. She also has an S.B. also from MIT in aerospace engineering.

Faye Ginsburg is a Professor of Anthropology at NYU Arts and Science, and Co-Chair of the NYU Center for Disability Studies. She is anAmerican anthropologist who has devoted her life to the exploration of different cultures and individuals’ styles of life.

Natasha Schüll is a cultural anthropologist and associate professor in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. Her work explores the psychic life of technology with a focus on themes of addiction, anxiety, and affect modulation. Her 2012 book, ADDICTION BY DESIGN: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas (Princeton University Press 2012), parses the intimate relationship between the experience of gambling addiction and casino industry design tactics, showing how architectural, atmospheric, ergonomic, audiovisual, and algorithmic-computational techniques are marshaled to suspend — and monetize — gamblers’ attention. Her current book project, KEEPING TRACK (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, under contract), explores the rise of sensor-based, digital technologies of the self and the new modes of self-care and self-regulation they offer. Her documentary film, BUFFET: All You Can Eat Las Vegas, has screened multiple times on PBS and appeared in numerous film festivals.