Mark Doerksen is a PhD candidate in the Social and Cultural Analysis program in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Concordia University. His thesis explores practices of transhumanism and the enhancement of senses through do-it-yourself electronic implants. Specifically, it focuses on how the body can be conceived as an assemblage, both a modifiable object and a phenomenal subject with flexible boundaries. The goal is understanding how these implants create new ways of relating to oneself, other people, objects, and environments by creating new forms of embodiment. This project also touches on the legal regulation of senses, as ‘self-surgery’ challenges existing socio-legal constructs. Ultimately, this project seeks to provide a positive formulation that challenges us to rethink the physical limits and theoretical potential of assimilating the human body with technology.

Mark Doerksen defended his thesis, entitled “How to Make Sense: Sensory Modification in Grinder Subculture” in August 2018 and graduated at Fall Convocation.