We had a great launch event for The Metaverse Series and our first two books at Blackfriars Hall in Oxford on the evening of 24th October 2024. The photo above shows Maggi, David, our editor Randi (who had managed to fly across from the USA to join us), and our kind and generous hosts at Blackfriars, the Regent and the Director of the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at Blackfriars.
Dr Maria Power, Senior Research Fellow in Human Dignity at Blackfriars Hall, hosted the event (and took the photos). David provided a short(ish) introduction to the Metaverse and the Critical Introduction book - but instead of using slides projected our space in Frame up onto the screen and walked his avatar through the information garden about the book in order to highlight key elements of the text. Maggi then spoke about the Learning and Education book, discussing liminality, C.S. Lewis and his notion of a hall as a waiting room between many doors (David actually built The Wood Between the Worlds in Second Life as a way of moving between spaces there), and "learning assemblages" in the metaverse and how they challenged more traditional linear scaffolding (a hot topic in the discussion afterwards).
We then had 3 guest speakers: Prof. Nigel Crook of Oxford Brookes University, Prof. Sarah Hayes of the University of Bath Spa and Dave White of the University of the Arts. Nigel talked about the impact of the Metaverse on an individuals moral development, and as a place where humans and robotic intelligences might be able to co-operate and even bond. Sarah discussed the relationship between the Metaverse and the post-digital world and thought, the biodigital and the role of the Metaverse in inclusion and entrepreneurship. David talked about the false dichotomy between "real" and physical/digital, the importance of place and presence to our lives, the impact of COVID and the Zoomification of our lives, and how the Metaverse potentially is an expression of our grieving for place.
(I'm just setting the timer for my talk, honest!)
There was then an open discussion driven by questions from the floor, exploring issues such as identity in virtual worlds, accessibility and the creation of "disabled" avatars, and the role of embodiment.
All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and a great launch for the series. Our thanks to all involved, and especially to Blackfriars Hall for hosting us and providing technical and logistical support, and to Randi and Taylor & Francis for being so supportive of us and the series.
