Rice University Professor Cary Wolfe's wide-ranging explorations of biopolitics, bioethics, philosophy and species differences challenge conventional understandings of animal consciousness and provoke a re-evaluation of what it means to be human. Wolfe will deliver a lecture, "Humans and Animals in a Biopolitical Frame," Sept. 27 at 4:30 p.m. at Cornell's Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall, as part of the College of Arts and Sciences Humanities Lecture series.

A reception at A.D. White House will follow the lecture. Both events are free and open to the public.

Jonathan Culler, Class of 1916 Professor of English and Comparative Literature, says, "Cary Wolfe has achieved renown in the field of literary and cultural theory, particularly because of his books on animal studies and on the idea of the posthuman."

Wolfe, chair and professor of English at Rice University, is author of several books, including "Animal Rites: American Culture, the Discourse of Species and Posthumanist Theory," and the edited collection "Zoontologies." His most recent book, "What Is Posthumanism?" weaves together the concerns of animal studies, systems theory, pragmatism and post-structuralism. He is currently completing a short book on biopolitics, biophilosophy and species differences.

Wolfe received his Ph.D. from Duke University in 1990 and has delivered numerous talks throughout North America and Europe in venues such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University and the annual Summer Academy in Frankfurt, Germany.

The Arts and Sciences Humanities Lectures are presented with support from the Office of the President and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Linda B. Glaser is a staff writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.