ZfL INFO 45/2020: Online-Diskussion: Identity Politics and Academia. A Transatlantic Conversation with Eva Geulen and Mark Lilla
Identity Politics and Academia. A Transatlantic Conversation with Eva Geulen and Mark Lilla
As U.S. and European societies define and redefine themselves, much of their discourse around identity and commonality plays out not only in the political sphere but also within academia. To what extent do questions of identity and belonging hold together and/or delimit society, and what role does academia play in this self-definition? In an attempt to further understand this intersection of politics and academia, the German American Event Series at Harvard presents: A virtual conversation between Prof. Eva Geulen and Prof. Mark Lilla, moderated by Dr. Annie Pfeifer. The speakers will share how their scholarship explores the relationship between identity and politics, and look at both theoretical and practical dimensions of identity politics on both sides of the Atlantic. Some guiding questions will include how party politics in the U.S. and Germany may use and abuse identity, whether identity serves as the right framework for promoting change and cohesion, and what role academica has in shaping this debate.
Eva Geulen is the director of the Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft and Professor for European Culture and History of Knowledge at Humboldt University.
Mark Lilla is Professor of Humanities at Columbia University.
Annie Pfeifer is Assistant Professor of Germanic Languages at Columbia University.