Undergraduate Humanities Fellow

Sociotechno Aesthetic Criticism

Ryan Mai (NYU Gallatin, BA ’26) studies the philosophy of technology and art criticism through his concentration titled Sociotechno Aesthetic Criticism. Anchored in philosophy and the social sciences, “Sociotechno” probes society’s entanglement with tools and the inherent social nature of technology. It examines how humans have created technologies that reflect specific viewpoints, ideologies, and cultural assumptions and how those technologies have reoriented relationships between nature, bodies, and institutions. “Aesthetic Criticism” examines art criticism, beauty and the sublime, and his own lived experience to evaluate how works of art act as testimony to moments of technological change and crisis. Criticism situates his studies within a hybrid personal-academic narrative, one rooted in the practice of contemplation, discovery of human nature, and gradual honing of his own critical faculties. Thinking beyond Gallatin, Mai is interested in law, digital policy, and the fine arts industry.