Arendt often quoted Shakespeare, and paraphrasing Hamlet – one of Western culture’s greatest procrastinators - is apropos for my sense of ambiguity right now as to whether to obey…or not to? In a previous post, Katy noted how the Covid 19 crisis represented a time for courage. Across the world, we have seen courageous, and irresponsible, actions from leaders and others. But it is not so much courage that I have been thinking about. Rather, it is obedience. In her essay “Personal … [Read more...]
Peer support during political crises
Katy and I presented at a conference this weekend on our work on Arendt and the family. But we added a new twist to our deliberations, that of the peer group. According to Arendt, the peer group not only provides friendship but also political support. Our talk on the peer group was based on Arendt's essay on Rosa Luxemburg, which appears in Men and Dark Times. Luxemburg is one of only two woman who make an appearance in this book. The other woman profiled is the novelist, Isak Dinerson. … [Read more...]
Home is where the food is
Last month I attended a "Decolonized Feast," an event organized by Emilio Rojos, the Live Arts Bard Biennial Artist in Residence, and Rebecca Yoshino, the Bard Farm Coordinator. The Feast was an opportunity to enjoy food harvested from the Bard Farm; we shared tamales, various salsas and hot sauces, roasted butternut squash with a maple syrup glaze, cranberry-mushroom wild rice, and hibiscus tea. Attendees also explored Rojos' land-art installation, Naturalized Borders (to Gloria). Rojos and … [Read more...]
Private sponsorship and community solidarity
The most recent issue of Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees is devoted to private sponsorship. Reading it encouraged me to return to themes I raised in a previous post about Canada's Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program. And good news--Refuge is open access, so anyone can read these articles! I find private sponsorship for refugee resettlement to be an opportunity to think through Hannah Arendt's claims about the blurring of private and public concerns. For Arendt, the private, the realm … [Read more...]
Home & Belonging: The Authors of “At Home with Arendt”
What does home mean? Is it related to a sense of belonging? What, if any, is the connection between the two? And who are we? Whose thoughts are you reading? This blog is written by 4 different scholars: Dr. Rita A. Gardiner, Dr. Katy Fulfer, Harshita Jaiprakash, and Janet Jones. We are a diverse group of scholars. Some of us are interested in bioethics, some in feminist theories, some in education, and some in drug addiction. But we are all intrigued by Hannah Arendt. During the past … [Read more...]