Mashya Boon

Biography

Mashya Boon is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of English at Michigan State University, specializing in Film Studies. Her research interests lie at the intersection of film-philosophy, post-humanism, identity-politics and ethics. By interrogating discourses on human subjectivity, she aspires to forge an original approach to the science-fiction genre within the field of film studies by combining cultural theory and ethical philosophy – an innovative exploration that aims not only to build upon and to expand disciplinary knowledge, but also sheds light on ethical and political questions of vital concern to the humanities writ large. “We have questioned if the human is essential to the core of existence, but we rarely question if the core of the human itself essentially exists at all.” To scrutinize this presupposed essential core, she undertakes philosophical thought-experiments by analyzing how the cultural imaginary of cinema has envisioned certain “science-fictions of the human self”, which radically stretch the normative boundaries of our conventional understanding of human identity. The cinematic figure of the human clone currently shapes and guides the parameters of her research.