N. Katherine Hayles to headline the Chatterjee Global Lecture Series XI at DAAP
Distinguished scholar will explore cognition across human, nonhuman and artificial systems
Event Information
The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) will welcome distinguished scholar N. Katherine Hayles for The Chatterjee Global Lecture Series XI on September 23.
N. Katherine Hayles
Hayles will present “The Integrated Cognitive Framework: From Human Dominance to Symbiotic Relations,” exploring new ways of understanding cognition across human, nonhuman and artificial systems.
Hayles is Distinguished Research Professor of English at UCLA and James B. Duke Professor Emerita of Literature at Duke University. Her scholarship examines the intersections of literature, science and technology, with particular attention to how emerging technologies reshape understandings of cognition, intelligence and human experience.
For her lecture, Hayles will examine an integrated approach to cognition that moves beyond a human-centered understanding of intelligence and considers relationships among human, nonhuman and artificial systems.
Her latest book, Bacteria to AI: Human Futures with Our Nonhuman Symbionts (2025), explores what it means to share the world with nonhuman and artificial minds. The book extends Hayles’ longstanding examination of how technology and scientific developments challenge traditional understandings of what it means to be human.
Hayles was recommended as the 2026 lecturer by DAAP’s AI group, which includes faculty Ali Ilhan, Isabel Potworowski, Caroline Anderson and Henry Levesque. The recommendation reflects the college’s growing engagement with artificial intelligence and its implications for creative practice, education and society.
The lecture is part of The Chatterjee Global Lecture Series, established through the generosity of Jay Chatterjee, dean emeritus of DAAP. Now in its 11th lecture series, the program brings professionals, students and members of the public together to engage with leading thinkers whose work connects creative and critical practices with questions about the social and physical environment.
Chatterjee established the series to extend DAAP’s resources beyond the college and bring the Greater Cincinnati community into a global conversation about design, innovation and the ways creative and critical work can shape how we understand the world.
Hayles’ lecture comes at a time when questions about artificial intelligence and its implications for creative practice, education and society are becoming increasingly important across DAAP and beyond. Her exploration of cognition across human, nonhuman and artificial systems offer an opportunity to consider AI not simply as a technology, but as part of a broader ecosystem of intelligence and interaction.
The lecture will be held 5-6 p.m. September 23 in DAAP Room 4400. The event is free and open to the public.
Suggested readings:
Attendees interested in exploring Hayles’ ideas before the lecture can read:
- “An Integrated Cognitive Framework,” from Bacteria to AI: Human Futures with Our Nonhuman Symbionts(2025). Read the chapter at University of Chicago Press
- “Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes,” Profession (2007). Read the article on JSTOR
- “Modes of Cognition: Implications for Large Language Models,” Antikythera (2025). Explore Modes of Cognition
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Featured image on top of Hayles' book, "Bacteria to AI." Photo/University of Chicago
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