The Association Board has approved the following title changes for leaders.

Brad Carmack Chief Operations Officer

Carl Youngblood Chief Information Officer

We extend sincere thanks to the outgoing directors: Carl Youngblood and Brent Allsop. Brent will be the project manager for the annual member survey, and Carl will continue in his role as Webmaster. See the new directors' profiles here and their bios below.

• Brad Carmack Association Secretary

IMAGE: PHOTO OF 2012 MTA CONFERENCE

The 2012 conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association was held on 6 April 2012 at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Speakers addressed the themes of Mormonism, Transhumanism and Transfigurism, with particular attention to topics at the intersection of technology, spirituality, science and religion. The conference streamed live for online viewers, and recordings are now available on the Mormon Transhumanist Association channel on YouTube. Please post comments and questions, and share these recordings with your friends and family. Thank you!

Technology changes us, and the world around us, in countless ways. The stuff of science fiction is now, in many cases, reality, and it can make our lives longer, healthier, and more productive than ever. But technological advance is not without complication, and even ardent proponents of technology recognize that our present age of innovation is fraught with concern for unintended consequences.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF 2012 MTA CONFERENCE

The 2012 conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association will be held on 6 April 2012 from 9am to 5pm at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Speakers will address the themes of Mormonism, Transhumanism and Transfigurism, with particular attention to topics at the intersection of technology, spirituality, science and religion. The conference schedule is below, and the program is now available for download. For those unable to attend in person, the association will provide a live stream of the conference on the association website home page at http://transfigurism.org. Those who can attend in person may still register today!

IMAGE: PHOTO OF 2012 MTA CONFERENCE LOGO

The 2012 conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association will be held on 6 April 2012 from 9am to 5pm at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Salt Lake CIty, Utah. Speakers will address the themes of Mormonism, Transhumanism and Transfigurism, with particular attention to topics at the intersection of technology, spirituality, science and religion. The schedule has been revised as follows: Roger Hansen will be unable to attend, and Lincoln Cannon will speak on "The Consolation: An Interpretive Variation on the King Follett Sermon of Joseph Smith". The conference is open to the public. Register today!

The Mormon Transhumanist Association has released results of its 2011 member survey. The survey results provide aggregate statistics of members' views on religion and politics, satisfaction with the association, and demographics.

In 2011, the association grew from 120 members to 143 members, and 71 members participated in the survey. Notable statistical changes since 2010 include:

IMAGE: PHOTO OF 2012 MTA CONFERENCE LOGO

The 2012 conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association will be held on 6 April 2012 from 9am to 5pm at the Salt Lake City Public Library in Salt Lake CIty, Utah. The conference is open to the public. Register today!

Lincoln Cannon and Chris Bradford were guests on the Mormon Matters podcast, with host Dan Wotherspoon and panelist Tyson Jacobsen. They discuss the future, especially as it is and promises to be even more impacted by technological advancements, along with several other major themes in Transhumanist debates. They also discuss the relevance of religion in a world increasingly dominated by science and secularism, and they pay particular attention to how Mormon and other religious concepts and terms can be given new life when informed by Transhumanist themes. They also examine the type of actors the world needs as it hurdles toward completely unprecedented forms of life and sociality.

The call for papers for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) is now open with a deadline of 11:59 pm, March 13. You are invited to submit a proposal for the Transhumanism and Religion Group. The AAR annual meeting is November 17-20, 2012 in Chicago. Below are the call and the mission statement of the Transhumanism and Religion Group. If you do not hold AAR membership and would like to submit a proposal as a guest, please go to the following link and follow instructions:

[http://www.rsnonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=975&Itemid=1071]

Call for Proposals

This Group welcomes papers on any aspect of transhumanism and religion and seeks perspectives from a variety of religious traditions. Papers may identify and critically evaluate any implicit religious beliefs that might underlie key transhumanist claims and assumptions. For example, are there operative notions of anthropology, soteriology, and eschatology at play in transhumanist quests? Papers might consider how transhumanism challenges religious traditions to develop their own ideas of the human future; in particular, the prospect of human transformation, whether by technological or other means. Papers may provide critical and constructive assessments of an envisioned future that place greater confidence in nanotechnology, robotics, and information technology to achieve virtual immortality and create a superior posthuman species. We welcome feminist analyses and more overtly philosophical critiques of posthuman discourse and encourage original research.

Mission

“Transhumanism” or “human enhancement” refers to an intellectual and cultural movement that advocates the use of a variety of emerging technologies. The convergence of these technologies may make it possible to take control of human evolution, providing for the enhancement of human mental and physical abilities deemed desirable and the amelioration of aspects of the human condition regarded as undesirable. These enhancements include the radical extension of healthy human life. If these enhancements become widely available, it would arguably have a more radical impact than any other development in human history — one need only reflect briefly on the economic, political, and social implications of some of the extreme enhancement possibilities. The implications for religion and the religious dimensions of human enhancement technologies are enormous and are addressed in our Group. We are interested in encouraging and providing a forum for a broad array of input from scholars, including Asian and feminist. For more information, or to be placed on a very occasional mailing list, contact Calvin Mercer at [[email protected]].