From TikTok Tics to Vampire Panics: Notes Towards a Schizoanalytic Theory of Mass Hysteria
Georgia Gibbs

May 19, 2026, 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Department of Philosophy, Deakin University

Building C, Level 2, Room 5
221 Burwood Highway
Melbourne 3125
Australia

This event is available both online and in-person

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Deakin University's HDR Philosophy Seminar Series invites current Australian graduate students to present their work for feedback, discussion, and engagement. We aim to foster a supportive space so that the seminar is thoughtful and constructive for all involved. We look forward to seeing you there!

Details: From TikTok Tics to Vampire Panics: Notes Towards a Schizoanalytic Theory of Mass Hysteria  

Abstract: Contemporary discourses on social media regulation tap into a long history of media pathologisation. These discourses frequently evoke well-established images of media functioning as a vector for social contagion or mass hysteria. In this presentation, I consider the theoretical presuppositions and cultural history subtending social media regulation debates through the lens of Deleuze and Guattari’s references to mass hysteria cases in A Thousand Plateaus. Through examining Deleuze and Guattari’s allusions to the European vampire panics of the 1730s, I provide some thoughts towards developing a schizoanalytic theory of mass hysteria. I ask if and how a schizoanalytic theorisation of mass hysteria can re-frame our understanding of social media as a vector for mental contagions.

Bio: Georgia Gibbs is a PhD candidate at Monash University whose research focuses on the intersection of feminist theory, schizoanalysis, and contemporary digital cultures. She also has a visual art practice and produces works related to her research.

Zoom Link:

https://deakin.zoom.us/j/81924932129?pwd=z5bjLyTaOq2FsWzg6AyM2aSt514uDf.1&from=addon

Meeting ID: 819 2493 2129 // Passcode: 73062796

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