The Planetary Collegium (a.k.a. CAiiA / Centre for Advanced Inquiry in Integrative Arts) is an international transcultural and transdisciplinary

new media art New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies, comprising virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D pri ...

educational research platform that promotes on the

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

level the integration of art, science, technology, and

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

research under the rubric of the ''

technoetic Technoetics is a neologism introduced by Roy Ascott, who coined the term from ''techne'' and '' noetic theory'', to refer to the emergent field of technology and consciousness research. Definitions The Technoetic relates to that which concerns the ...

arts''. It is based in the School of Art, Design and Architecture department at

Plymouth University The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is th ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

with nodes in

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

. Since its inception in 1994, over 80 doctoral candidates have graduated from the Planetary Collegium with

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

s. The founding President is Professor

Roy Ascott Roy Ascott FRSA (born 26 October 1934) is a British artist, who works with cybernetics and telematics on an art he calls technoetic by focusing on the impact of digital and telecommunications networks on consciousness. Since the 1960s, Ascott ...

History

The Planetary Collegium was conceived and established by

as the ''Centre for Advanced Inquiry in the Interactive Arts'' (CAiiA) in 1994 at what is now the University of Wales, Newport Three years later, Ascott established STAR (Science Technology and Art Research) in the School of Computing, University of Plymouth. CAiiA-STAR constituted a joint research platform, with access to supervisory and technical resources of both universities. In 2003, Ascott contracted to relocate the platform to

, renaming it the Planetary Collegium, where it is currently located in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Since 1997, the Collegium has given more than seventy conferences and symposia in Europe, North and South America, Japan, China and Australia. Since its inception, first at the University of Wales and currently at Plymouth, over 80 doctoral candidates have graduated.

Aims

The Collegium aims to produce new knowledge in the context of the arts, through transdisciplinary inquiry and critical discourse, with special reference to

research and to advances in science and technology. Its seeks to reflect the social, technological and spiritual aspirations of an emerging planetary society, while sustaining a critical awareness of the retrograde forces and fields that inhibit social and cultural development. It combines the face-to-face association of individuals with the trans-cultural unity of telematic communities, thereby developing a network of research nodes strategically located across the planet, each with a distinctive cultural ethos. The Collegium seeks outcomes that involve new language, systems, structures, and behaviours, and insights into the nature of mind, matter and human identity.

Structure

As conceived and directed by Ascott, the Planetary Collegium consists of artists, theoreticians and scholars working within the context of

transdisciplinarity Transdisciplinarity connotes a research strategy that crosses many disciplinary boundaries to create a holistic approach. It applies to research efforts focused on problems that cross the boundaries of two or more disciplines, such as research ...

and

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

so as to develop their research in the practice and theory of

with a special interest in

telematics Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies ( road transport, road safety, etc.), electrical engineering (sensors, instrumentation, wireless communications, etc.), and computer science (multime ...

and

technoetics Technoetics is a neologism introduced by Roy Ascott, who coined the term from ''techne'' and ''noetic theory'', to refer to the emergent field of technology and consciousness research. Definitions The Technoetic relates to that which concerns the ...

. Currently, their doctoral research leads to the award of the University of Plymouth PhD. Post-doctoral research is also pursued. It has attracted an impressive number of internationally well-established artists, musicians, performers, designers, architects, theorists and scholars involved in doctoral and post-doctoral research. Currently, the hub of the Collegium, CAiiA-Hub (the Centre for Advanced Inquiry in Integrative Arts) is situated in the School of Art and Media, Faculty of Arts,

.Kristine Stiles & Peter Selz, ''Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings'' (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles) University of California Press 2012, p. 464 The Collegium has a Node De Tao-Node''

in Shanghai. The programme, which is largely part-time, has a virtually 100% success rate, with well over 80 doctoral graduates . In addition to doctoral candidates and graduates, supervisors and honorary members, its constituency also includes general members, who share the aims and interests of the Collegium, and are invited to participate in its development o
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The Planetary Collegium has a geographically dispersed membership and convenes the majority of its research sessions and public conferences in Asia, Australia, the Americas and Europe.

Node Directors

*DeTao-Node Shanghai, China. DeTao Masters Academy in Shanghai. Director:

*T-Node Trento, Italy. Fondazione Ahref. Director: Francesco Monico *NGL-Node Lucerne, Switerland, Lucerne, Switzerland. NGL - SAA Neue Galerie Luzern - Swiss Academic Association. Director: René Stettler

Awards

The Collegium was awarded The World Universities Forum Award for Best Practice in Higher Education 2011.

Collegium President

, Founding President, 2014 Recipient of the

Prix Ars Electronica The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria). ...

Golden Nica Award for Visionary Pioneer of

New Media Art New media art includes artworks designed and produced by means of electronic media technologies, comprising virtual art, computer graphics, computer animation, digital art, interactive art, sound art, Internet art, video games, robotics, 3D pri ...

. Doctor ''Honoris Causa'',

Ionian University The Ionian University (Greek: Iόνιο Πανεπιστήμιο) is a university located in the Ionian Islands, Greece. It is one of the newest institutions of Higher Education in Greece, created in 1984 pursuant to presidential order 83/84 Φ ...

, Corfu, Greece. Honorary Professor, Aalborg University, Denmark. Honorary Professor, West London University, UK. Professor, Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts. DeTao Master of Technoetic Arts, DeTao Masters Academy, Shanghai, China.

Collegium Advisory Board

;Honorary Fellows of the Collegium
Marco Bischof
*

James Gimzewski James Kazimierz Gimzewski FRS FREng FInstP is a Scottish physicist of Polish descent who pioneered research on electrical contacts with single atoms and molecules and light emission using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).James K. Gimz ...

* Pierre Lévy *

Luis Eduardo Luna Luis Eduardo Luna is an anthropologist and noted ayahuasca researcher. Biography Luna was born in 1947, in Florencia, Colombia. He received his doctorate in 1989 from the Institute of Comparative Religion at Stockholm University, as well as an ho ...

Roger Malina Roger Malina (born July 6, 1950) is an American physicist, astronomer, Executive Editor of ''Leonardo Publications'' by Leonardo, the International Society of Arts, Sciences and Technology (published by MIT Press) and distinguished professor of a ...

Ryohei Nakatsu
* Thomas S. Ray

Marilyn Schlitz *

Barbara Maria Stafford Barbara Maria Stafford (born 1941) is an art historian whose research focuses on the developments in imaging arts, optical sciences, and performance technologies since the Enlightenment. Early life and education Stafford is of European parentage ...

;Academic Members of the Collegium Advisory Board
Mike Phillips
Principal Supervisor, CAiiA-Node
Jane Grant
Principal Supervisor, CAiiA-Node

Jing (Luna) Zhou, Associate Director, DeTao Node

Advanced Research Associates

The Advanced Research Associateship (ARA) involves post-doctoral or advanced practice research. ARAs are required to attend three Composite Sessions within their year of registration, and to participate in the associated international research conferences. *** CAiiA-Hub: ** Heather Raikes, University of Washington, Seattle, US (2011–12). ** Paulo Rodrigues, University of Aveiro, Portugal (2010–11). ** Wengao Huang, University of Plymouth, UK (2005–06). ** Cristina Miranda de Almeida, University of the Basque Country. (2005–06). ** Andrea Gaugusch, University of Vienna, Austria (2003–04). ** Dene Grigar, Washington State University—Vancouver (2002–04). ** Katia Maciel, Federal University Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2001–02). ** Tania Fraga, University of Brasilia, Brazil (1999–2000). *** M-Node: ** Luisa Paraguai, Anhembi Morumbi University, São Paulo, Brazil (2011–12). ** Gianna Angelini, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy (2012-) ** I-Node, Lila Moore,(2014-2015).

The Consciousness Reframed Conferences

Instituted by Roy Ascott, the international research conference series ''Consciousness Reframed: art and consciousness in the post-biological era'' brings together each year between 60 and 100 presenters from up to 25 countries *1997, 1998, and 2000. University of Wales College, Newport *1998. University of Plymouth, England. Conference workshop ''The Architecture of Consciousness'' *2002. Perth, Western Australia. Hosted by

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

*2003. University of Wales College, Newport. *2004. Beijing, China. ''Qi and Complexity'' Digital Media Studio, Central Academy of Fine Arts; China Electronic Music Center, Central Conservatory of Music; Department of Digital Art and Design, School of Software,

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...

; Institute of Digital Media, Beijing Normal University. *2005. University of Plymouth, England. A''ltered States: Transformations of Perception, Place & Performance.'' *2006. University of Plymouth, England. ''Altered States: Immatereality.'' *2008. Vienna, Austria. ''New Realities : Being Syncretic'' Hosted by Universität für Angewandte Kunst Wien. *2009. Munich, Germany. Macromedia Hochschule für Medien und Kommunikation. '' Experiencing Design, Behaving Media'' . *2010. Trondheim, Norway. TEKS - Trondheim Electronic Arts Center. ''Making Reality Really Real'' . *2011. Shanghai, China. Institute of Visual Art, Fudan University. ''Transcultural Tendencies , Transmedial Transactions''. *2011. Centro Cultural Belem and Artshare. Lisbon, Portugal. ''Presence in the Mindfield: Art, Identity and the Technology of Transformation'' . *2012. Ionion Center for the Arts and Culture. Kefalonia, Greece. ''Technoetic Telos: Art, Myth and Media'' *2013. The German University in Cairo, Egypt. 2013. "Behind the Image and Beyond" *2015 De Tao Masters Academy, Shanghai, China. "The Matter of the Immaterial". *2016 De Tao Masters Academy, Shanghai, China."Presumptive Predications: art and the future". *2017 Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China."Subtle Cybernetics and the Art of Mind". *2019 Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal."Sentient States: Bio-mind and Techno-nature".

Research Sessions and Public Conferences

*Sessions and conferences have been hosted by: *Artspace Media Centre,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

(1997) * La Beneficia Cultural Centre,

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

(1998) *CYPRES,

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

(1999) * Federal University,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

(1999) *

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first ...

, Tucson (2000) *

École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French '' grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Scien ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

(2000) *Fondazione Fitzcaraldo, Turin (2001) *

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya The Open University of Catalonia ( ca, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC; ) is a private open university based in Barcelona, Spain. The UOC offers graduate and postgraduate programs in Catalan, Spanish and English in fields such as Psycholo ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

(2001) *University of California DARNet, Santa Cruz and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

(2001) *University of Arizona, Tucson (2002) *

, Perth, Western Australia (2002) * IAMAS, Ogaki,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

(2002) *The Hochschule fuer Gestaltung und Kunst, Zurich (2003) *Image Technology Center,

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro or University of Brazil (UFRJ; pt, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro or ') is a public research university located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the largest federal university in the ...

, Paraciutu and

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

(2003) *Ciberart,

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

(2004) *School of Software,

, Beijing (2004) *

Texas Woman's University Texas Woman's University (TWU) is a public coeducational university in Denton, Texas, with two health science center-focused campuses in Dallas and Houston. While TWU has been fully co-educational since 1994, it is the largest state-support ...

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

(2005) *

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

, Plymouth (2005) *

Sabancı University Sabancı University ( tr, Sabancı Üniversitesi), established in 1994, is a young foundation university located on a 1.26 million squaremeter campus which is about 40 km from Istanbul's city center. Its first students matriculated in 1999. ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

(2005) *University of Arizona, Tucson (2006) *

, (2006) *SES

São Paulo, Brazil (2006) *Hexagra

Montreal (2007) *

, (2007) * Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano - NABA (2007) *

LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial (Art and Industrial Creation Centre) is an exhibition centre in Gijón, Spain, for art, science, technology and advanced visual industries. It is also a venue for artistic and technological producti ...

, Gijon, Asturias, Spain (2008) *Universität für Angewandte Kunst Wien (2007

Vienna, Austria (2008) *SES

São Paulo, Brazil (2008) *La Sala Parpall

Valencia, Spain (2009) *macromedia hochschule für medien und kommunikatio
Munich
Germany (2009) *Artshare, Porto, Portugal, 2010 *Ionion Centre for the Arts and Culture, Kefalonia, Greece, 2011 *CIANT - International Centre for Art and New Technologies, Prague, Czech Republic. 2012
XARTS - International Conference on Extended Arts - From Virtual to Real
Syros, Greece. 2013 *Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg."Fak'ugesi Digital Africa Conference".214. *2016 American University in Cairo, Egypt. "Cairotronica".

External links

The Planetary Collegium at University of Plymouth, England

Footnotes

{{University of Plymouth Transdisciplinarity New media art International artist groups and collectives University of Plymouth