Today we highlight the opening panel Multispecies Ontologies and Rights with Christoph Cox and Jacqueline Gallant.
This session reimagines law, philosophy, and ethics beyond the human, exploring questions of multispecies rights, personhood, and how different forms of life might be recognized within legal and conceptual frameworks.
Moderated by Eva Perez de Vega (Parsons), the conversation engages with shifting ontologies that challenge human-centered systems of thought, opening space for more inclusive understandings of agency and existence.
Location: Hirshon Suite
What might it mean to extend rights and personhood beyond the human? ⚖️
We are very excited to announce the full program for the upcoming Spring Gathering / Ideas Festival happening in NYC this April 8, 9 and 10, 2026. A link to the schedule with details is posted in our bio 🌱
We will work our way backwards through the program with daily posts as a prelude to the festival.
Today we highlight the event that will close the conference - the sound focused program, “Listening Beyond Human Sensing.” This session will explore how listening practices can reveal multispecies relationships and communications outside our ordinary sensory reach. Talks from four artists who work in interdisciplinary modes of science, sound art and more-than-human listening will be followed by a discussion panel moderated by author, sound scholar, philosopher Christoph Cox (Dean of Lang, The New School). Each artist will present on their own specific topic in ecology and sound: Suzanne Thorpe (Manhattan College) on oyster reefs; Kathy High (RPI) on rats; Lisa Schonberg (Parsons) on ants and other invertebrates; and John Roach (Parsons) on honeybees. Following the discussion panel, there will be a live sound performance from the presenters.
What multispecies soundworlds are we not hearing?
Dark Ride across the Everglades featuring Ana da Silva & Phew and Sarah Hennies (and many more, curated by Christof Migone), followed by a spectacular performance by Maria Chavez at the Baker Museum.
