Philosopher Graham Harman to Join SCI-Arc

Harman, Ph.D. Appointed to the School's Liberal Arts Faculty as Distinguished Professor of Philosophy

SCI-Arc announced the appointment of Graham Harman, Ph.D. to its Liberal Arts Faculty. Harman, widely known as a key figure in the contemporary speculative realism movement in philosophy and for his development of object-oriented ontology, will join SCI-Arc’s community in fall, 2016 as Distinguished Professor of Philosophy.

A prolific writer, Graham has twelve books to his name, including The Quadruple Object, Guerrilla Metaphysics: Phenomenology and the Carpentry of Things, and Weird Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy, as well as numerous appreciations and critiques within the fields of philosophy, literature, science, art, and architecture. He is currently ranked as one of Art Review's 100 most influential figures in the art world, and is editor of the Speculative Realism book series at Edinburgh University Press.

“We are thrilled and honored that someone of Graham’s stature and reputation will join our faculty,” said SCI-Arc Director Hernan Diaz Alonso. “This appointment clearly demonstrates our mission to deepen the school’s Liberal Arts agenda to one of architecture as a human endeavor.”

Chair of the B.Arch. Program, Tom Wiscombe, said of his appointment, “Graham is a unique and notorious figure in philosophy and the arts. His fresh metaphysical project offers a way of understanding reality not as a product of the human mind, but rather as a cornucopia of independent and vibrant objects, large and small, human and non-human. Graham is irreverent, with as many adversaries as acolytes; he is at home in the battlefield of ideas. His remarkable imagination and style, and his ability to leap in and out of realms of ideas and aesthetics will be huge assets for our school. In the coming years, Graham will no doubt engage and provoke the speculative design culture of SCI-Arc, as well as being a crucial contributor to our Liberal Arts Program.”

Graham had this to say about his appointment: “During my lectures over the years, I have rarely felt as challenged and inspired as I do when speaking at schools of architecture. Along with the chance to give whatever I can to the SCI-Arc community, I see this move as a remarkable learning opportunity.”